Movie Madness
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: With lack of Nighlock Activity, the Samurai have become complacent. Now the Shogun have come to force them to prove they are worthy of the power they handed to them. Will they prove they deserve the power of the ancient Shogun?
1. Chapter 1

**LEGAL:** I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, events, characters etc. Anything not covered by these rights is to be presumed to be the sole creation of the author.

**Rating: **T- may be some adult themes.

Things around the Shiba House were quiet...VERY quiet. Indeed, it was so quiet, the Rangers were starting to think of things as...dare they say...boring.

For a while, they had all used all the extra time they had to train. Their harsh, decisive, and some would say borderline embarrassing defeat at Xandred's hands was now some time ago, and they had all fully healed, all except Mia, who was still nursing the broken wrist Dekker had given her shortly afterwards. They had all had a little taste of the power that awaited them if Xandred were ever to come back to their world, and they were under no false illusions about how that had ended. They all knew that they were lucky to even leave with their lives, fortunate that Xandred had been forced to retreat or dry out completely. They had all agreed to train hard to increase their power to the next level.

Unfortunately, it was not just Xandred that had left them. Serrator was also in need of recovery time, and had not been seen in the mortal realm since he fled from Xandred. Dayu had been taken with Xandred back to the Netherworld, and Dekker...once he realised they weren't going to go anywhere alone, and had mastered a stronger security symbol that stopped even Half-Nighlock from entering their home and those of their allies, had given them one last battle, taking heavy damage in what he had referred to as a 'parting gift'. They still had no idea what that meant, or when he would be back, but what they were certain of is that at some point, he would be. He still craved his duel with Jayden, and without Xandred and his forces to distract the others, he was not going to get it.

Their good intentions had lasted some time, but over the last month or so, the attacks became less frequent. Indeed, in the last couple of weeks, they hadn't seen so much as a single Mooger. While they still trained as always, the motivation to push themselves had waned a little. It seemed like they were torturing themselves for nothing, and so things just kind of dropped off a little. They were using their time to catch up on some of their other pursuits. That had also presented some of its own problems. Mia had read through almost the entire library, and was starting on Ji's private collection. Kevin and Jayden practiced, but with only themselves for opponents, they had kind of hit a plateau, not really advancing in any real way. Even Mike had now spent so much time on his own pursuits that he was now bored with all his video games.

Jayden came into the Living Room, following another rather unproductive session with Kevin, finding Antonio by the computer. Although the monster attacks were less frequent, that information hadn't seemed to filter to the tourist industry, and so with the holidays well underway, the city had largely emptied. Normally when the citizens took their holidays, tourists flocked to Panorama City for the climate, but this year the Travel Agents seemingly couldn't GIVE the tickets away, and the usual tide of tourists hadn't come. The upshot was that a lot of businesses had noticed a large drop-off in trade, Antonio's included. Jayden had seen him at the computer more than a few times recently, since he didn't really have the same demands on his time with his business. What was the point in fishing for hours when there was no one to buy his stock?

"You know, it's pointless, Ji put a parental lock on the computer." Jayden chuckled, seeing the way Antonio was staring at the screen. Antonio took a moment to realise what Jayden was getting at, before finally realising that he was suggesting he was trying to look up porn. He just laughed.

"Do you really think I wouldn't be able to bypass that if I wanted to?" Antonio asked him. "No, I'm just messing around."

"Well, be careful what you're looking for." Jayden told him. "Last time Emily went just randomly looking for stuff, Mia found Spike's Facebook page."

"Yeah, I heard about that." Antonio chuckled. Jayden just went to his room to get showered and changed, leaving Antonio alone to his work on the computer. Checking Jayden wasn't around, he pulled the page he was looking at back up.

He sighed as he confirmed what he knew already.

"Prop 8." He sighed. "God Damn it!"

Panorama city was in California, a state unique among the others. He hadn't thought about it before, not much, indeed...he hadn't thought about it at all until Jayden, but California was unique for one special reason. For about six months in 2008, it was legal for two people of the same gender to marry.

It seemed silly to him at times, but as he watched Emily and Mike giggle and cuddle, or when he saw Mia bore Kevin with her seemingly endless collection of wedding albums, Antonio had thought about it more and more.

Back in High School, when he first discovered he was gay, he had a hard time dealing with it. In fact, he had once tried to take his own life once people started to realise he was different, that he wasn't looking at girls the same way other guys were. He had heard it referred to as a "choice". Yeah, some choice, he thought. Everyone at his old church, most of his old school, and even members of his own family had turned their backs on him. It wasn't a choice, it wasn't down to him that he wanted to be with other guys instead of girls. For a long time, he thought that would mean he would end up alone. No one wanted to be near him.

He had that attitude up until he got to the Shiba House. He had never really understood why he had kept his promise to Jayden. He never really knew why it was so vital to him that he came back to him, but as soon as he arrived back in Panorama City, he knew. The moment he saw Jayden, he knew that he was the only man he had ever loved.

Watching the others though, he was starting to find something else growing in him. He didn't really blame them for planning for lives after Xandred was gone one way or another. He had thoughts about it himself. However, seeing the way Mike would remind Emily that they belonged together, or the excitement Mia showed any time she talked to Kevin about yet another idea she'd had for what he was sure would be an event that would put Will and Kate to shame if she had her way, it brought something to his attention, something he now found upsetting him deeply. As a result of proposition 8, at present, he would never be able to legally marry the man he loved.

He knew that many people had left the country, and he also knew that more than a few had held ceremonies that meant just as much to those involved, but legally speaking meant nothing. Before now, it hadn't bothered him, but now, now it seemed to get to him.

He had never spoken to Jayden about it. He was afraid to, the whole concept of being in a relationship with another man was relatively new to him. It was one thing to accept he was also gay, but marriage was another thing entirely, something that he wasn't sure he should bring up with him just yet. He just sighed and closed down the computer altogether. He wasn't like he wanted to marry tomorrow, but now that he knew that it wasn't an option at present, it seemed to bother him all the more.

Just then, a Gap Sensor sounded. It was a sound that was quickly becoming alien to the Rangers. They hadn't heard it in a couple of weeks, so they had almost forgotten why they were even here. They all rushed into the room, staring at the map.

"Moogers?" Mike asked. Kevin shook his head, but a ghost of a smile crossed his lips.

"It's bigger than that." He stated. "It's a Nighlock!"

"A Nighlock?" Emily asked. "So they're...?"

"I don't think so." Jayden interrupted her. "The energy signature's not huge, so I'm guessing it's an independent taking advantage of the quiet time to advance its own power."

"Whatever, it's more action than a punching bag!" Mike exclaimed, running for the door. "Let's go!"

Ji stayed behind, monitoring the map as he watched them go.

The Rangers arrived by an old movie theatre, finding several people running scared. They gestured them out of the area, before running inside to find out what was bothering them. They eventually found some moogers and a Nighlock in the foyer waiting for them.

The Nighlock was a bizarre creature. It had only one eye, which looked fixed, and unblinking, and its head was shaped somewhat like a large, old-fashioned...

"Is that a projector?" Mike asked. The Nighlock looked up from the concessions stand, where it was feeding on film reels instead of popcorn.

"Well, you're here!" It declared. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd come!"

"Your energy signature was so small we only just found it." Kevin explained.

"Well, I guess now is where I'm offered the chance to step outside." The Nighlock stated. "Although, I think I prefer inside."

"Is anyone else bored?" Terry asked. "I say we take this guy NOW!"

He ran at the Nighlock, at which a blast came out of its one eye, and he disappeared in a flash of light. They all just looked at it in horror.

"Terry!" Emily screamed. "You son of a..."

Her words dissipated as she too was hit with a blast and disappeared. Mike leapt aside and rolled away as it fired out a beam, taking out Antonio, Jayden and Kevin. He alone remained, and right now he was pinned behind the ticket booth in fear of being vapourised too.

As he prepared himself to move, he noticed a mirrored pillar, likely there for security reasons, and he noticed that where Emily had been standing, there was now a film reel. Looking a little way off, he saw another. He finally realised that they weren't gone, they had somehow been turned into film reels. He had no idea how he would turn them back, but it was a relief to hi to believe there was even a chance they weren't really gone.

He saw a glow from his Samuraizer, and he grabbed it. He found it vibrating in his grip, mildly at first, but the vibrations steadily grew, grew until they were painful, and then to the point that he could no longer hold it. The Samuraizer flew out his hand, and started to float in mid-air, before turning into a translucent form of the Green Shogun he had once seen in his dreams. He knew that the first Samurai Rangers had attained a level of power that none had ever matched, a level they had offered to the others when Jayden tamed the Bull Zord.

"So, a new toy!" The Nighlock taunted the new arrival. "Well, I'll just take that too."

Its blast was swatted away by the spirit with the disdain it would have swatted aside an insect. Mike watched as the Red, Blue, Pink and Yellow Shogun appeared beside it, and started to advance on the Nighlock.

"I think not." The Red Shogun, the Grand Shogun, stated. Mike shielded his eyes as the room was bathed in light. As he was finally able to re-open them, he saw the five standing in the foyer, at which the Green Shogun gestured him out.

"You!" He stated. "You are my ancestor?"

Ike didn't know what to say. He just nodded reluctantly.

"Stand when I speak to you BOY!" He roared. Mike snapped to his feet, and came out of hiding, looking to them. The five Shogun just glared at him judgementally.

"You?" The Grand Shogun asked. "YOU are the ones we pass our power to?"

"Uh...I guess..."

"DO NOT GUESS!" The Green Shogun blasted out in a voice so powerful it bowled Mike completely off his feet. He looked up in shock. "I cannot believe my blood would ever produce one so weak!"

"All of us have overestimated our blood." The Pink Shogun stated. "My descendent has even wielded my power, and I could tell then she had no comprehension of its true extent."

"As I felt with my descendent." The Blue Shogun agreed. The Grand Shogun just shook his head.

"You...all of you...you are not worthy of our power." He stated.

"Your power?" Mike asked. "Well...you obviously have a lot! I mean look at it! You wiped out that Nighlock and the Moogers without..."

"I could have defeated a thousand times their number single-handed at the height of my power." The Grand Shogun boasted.

"Look, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but what about my team?" He asked. "Normally when we blow up the Nighlock, any spells they cast end. All my friends are still film reels."

"That is our doing." The Grand Shogun told him. "You have all grown soft."

"Weak." The Blue Shogun added.

"Vulnerable!" The Green Shogun concluded.

"Well, I hate to bring it up, but you're kind of running out of descendents." Mike stated bitterly, hating being chastised by ghosts of centuries dead ancestors this way. "We're kind of your only shot!"

"If you think that, you are as dense as you are soft!" the Grand Shogun snapped. "We gave the war to our children and our descendents because we believed they would exceed us, not become a bunch of whining children."

"Look, my friends...my fiancée is a reel of 8mm cine roll right now!" Mike stated, tears of anger and anguish running down his face. "Tell me what I have to do to get them back!"

The Spirit Shogun Rangers all turned towards each other, and discussed things for a moment. Eventually, they turned back to him.

"The Nighlock had a unique curse, one we think will provide us with a test of your worth." The Grand Shogun told him. "Your friends are all trapped in stories of their own creation."

"What?" Mike asked for clarification.

"Everyone loves different fiction." The Yellow Shogun answered. "If they can bring their story to a satisfactory conclusion, they can go free, and will have proved themselves worthy of the power we have gifted them."

"If they cannot." The Blue Shogun added, stepping forward. "We take that power back, and we finish the war."

"What about me?" Mike asked them. The Green Shogun just levelled his sword his way.

"You had to ask." He replied. Everything faded to black.

He woke up, lying face down in a puddle in the gutter of a street. It seemed to be very late, because he couldn't discern any form of colour. He started to haul himself to his feet, before feeling a hand on his arm, hauling him up.

"Are you alright Jenson?" The stranger asked. Mike looked around, seeing that the guy helping him up was Spike.

"What did you just call me?" Mike asked him.

"Uh...I called you Jenson." He answered. "Do you want me to call you detective?"

"Detective?" Mike asked again. As he stood up, he noticed he was dressed in a three-piece suit, with a long trench-coat over the top. Spike handed him a Fedora, so he presumed it was his.

"Thanks Spike." He state.

"Ernie." He corrected him. "But you know what? Spike sounds...yeah, you can call me Spike if you like."

"Um...sorry, I'm kind of fuzzy here." Mike stated, adjusting his clothing. "Why am I here again?"

"I think it might have something to do with her." Spike replied, pointing to a corpse on the middle of the street. "You started to look around, then you just kind of...fell down."

Mike moved closer, and turned the body over, only to find that it was the body of Serena. She wasn't breathing, and she was wearing...

"What year is it?" Mike asked.

"What?" Spike asked.

"She's dressed like a flapper girl..."

"She IS a flapper girl, she was gunned down by Switchblade Kyle's boys as she left the club." Spike informed him.

"What year is it?" Mike asked him again.

"Uh...1948." Spike replied. Mike went into the club, finding a number of other cops milling around, and customers...but something was seriously off. All of them were in black and white. He turned to a pillar, finding it mirrored, in full light, and noticed that he too was in black and white.

It was only then that he remembered what the Shoguns had told him. They were trapped in stories, just like if the film-Nighlock had trapped them. He checked out his clothing, and the clothing of the other 'cast members' quickly, before coming to his conclusion.

"Holy shit!" He explained. "I'm in a Noir movie!"

"You're not in a movie Jenson." He heard a familiar voice say. He turned around to see Ji standing behind him in a pin-stripe suit, casually smoking a cigar. "Now, if you wouldn't mind doing the job we're paying you for instead of rolling around in puddles, that would be appreciated."

"Ji?" Mike asked.

"That's Commander Bowson to you!" Ji roared. "Now there's a dead girl out there, and I want the man who shot her! Is that too much to ask?"

"No sir." Mike answered as he turned and left, trying to figure this out. The Shogun had said that he needed to take the story to a satisfactory conclusion. If he was going to get out, he needed to find out who shot Serena...or at least...this version of her.


	2. Reel Trouble

Mike felt ill as he started to get to work. One thing he had never told many people was that he loved old Noir movies. While he and his dad had spent a long time training, some of his happiest memories were sitting with him, with a huge tub of popcorn, watching all the old classics. Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Set-Up...however, he had never banked on being in one. Not only was he in the uncomfortable situation of having to investigate a crime scene, but it was made all the more sickening was that it was the murder of his future sister-in-law.

Although he knew that Serena was nowhere near the theatre when the Nighlock attacked, the dead girl on the ground was definitely her. He had seen Ji as well, in the role of his boss, the Head Detective on the scene. He knew that Ji was definitely nowhere near the theatre. Ji had been at the Shiba House, monitoring the scene. He was starting to come to the conclusion that the main parts in this story would be played by people he knew. Even the news stand guy he had seen earlier was played by Spike.

He went to the body, steeling himself for this part. He only hoped that if...when, he kept reminding himself that he had to stay positive and believe he would get through this. When he told the others about this, he would be able to avoid telling Serena this part. They were close, but not that close.

"Sorry about this." He muttered, kneeling over the body to inspect it. He knew that by modern standards, they would probably leave the body as untouched as possible, but in 1948, forensic science was a lot less refined than it was in the modern era. Most of the evidence would have been extracted from observation of the scene. He turned her onto her back, and examined her, trying hard not to imagine what Serena would do to him if she saw what he was doing to her body.

"Shot twice in the chest." He commented. "No signs of a struggle, whoever did this mut have caught her by surprise. That or she knew them."

"Probably a good theory." Someone behind him stated. He looked around, seeing Bulk standing there, wearing a suit, with a name tag identifying him as the coroner. Mike shook his head. That showed he was DEFINITELY not in reality any longer. While he had met Bulk a few times, and didn't think of him as being especially stupid, he was in no way a scientist.

"Bulk?" He asked. The man just looked at him, seemingly a little annoyed.

"There's no need to call me names!" He snapped angrily. "You can call me Dr. Jeffries like always."

Mike just sighed. He had to remind himself that he was seemingly the only one who knew who he was, and that this was all just a movie playing out before them. Everyone else seemed to believe they were their assigned characters. He recalled what the Shogun had told him. They had to play their stories to a satisfactory end. THEIR stories. Now he seemed to understand. This was his story, somehow he had to bring this story to a good ending. Something that he was sure would be an uphill struggle in a Noir tale. From all the movies he had seen he had learned that Noir films rarely had happy endings, especially for the hero.

"Sorry, I guess I hit my head when I fell." Mike stated. "So, Jeffries, what can you add?"

"No exit wounds, so the bullets are still inside her. My guess would be low velocity rounds at close range." Bulk told him. Mike just nodded in response.

"So whoever did this had to be close." Mike surmised. "That seems to strengthen the theory that she knew the shooter."

"I'd say so." Bulk agreed. "The kid seems particularly shaken up."

"You mean Spi...uh...the news stand kid?" Mike asked. Bulk just nodded.

"He was the only one in the street when we arrived." He added, pointing to some wreckage not far from them. "That's what's left of his stand."

"He must have seen something." Mike surmised. "I'll swing by the morgue later."

"I'll try and have something for you by then." Bulk answered. Mike then went over to where Spike was sitting with a patrolman, looking decidedly shaken. Mike could hardly blame him. Not only was he a witness to a murder, apparently, but the detective who had showed up to investigate, he had to fish out of the gutter only moments before. It could hardly inspire confidence.

He stood up as Mike came across. He tried to remember the name Spike had given, racking his brains...

"Ernie, right?" Mike asked him. Spike nodded.

"Yeah, but you can call me Spike." He stated. "I kind of liked it when you did. I think I might start asking my friends to call me..."

"Alright, Spike it is." He concluded. "OK, what did you see?"

"N...n...not much really." He stated. "Selene left the club..."

"Selene?" Mike asked him. "You knew the deceased?"

"Well...kind of in passing. Her name was Selene Moller. She worked at the bar across the street." He said, shifting a little uncomfortably. If it wasn't for the monochrome environment, he was sure that he would be blushing. "She always comes for her early morning edition of the Herald after her performance. All the performers do."

"I guess that's a good enough reason for a kid your age to be out at this hour." Mike sighed, writing in his notebook. He had seen enough movies to know how this process worked. "So, what happened?"

"Well, she normally comes over and gets a paper." Spike told him. "She's really nice, always gives me a little extra. She's the only one that talks to me, like she's really interested in what I have to say. She was a good lady. She didn't deserve that."

"Go on." Mike beckoned him.

"Well, a big black Lincoln rolled up to the curb nearby. A couple of tough guys got out. They looked like Switchblade Kyle's boys." Spike told him. Mike looked like he was about to press this. Spike had already mentioned the name. "He's the only one in the city whose guys can afford a car like that. No one makes that kind of money honestly in this town."

"So, what happened?" Mike asked him.

"Selene went to talk to one of them. It looked like she knew him, so I just went back to managing my stock." He continued with his story. "I was just folding some papers when I heard the shots. I turned around and saw Selene on the ground. The guys got back in the car and sped off. They went so fast, they missed the corner and went through the stand. If I hadn't jumped, they'd have gone straight over me too!"

"Can you describe the men?" Mike asked him. Spike just shrugged.

"I didn't see their faces." He admitted. "They were wearing suits. Long coats, Fedoras..."

"Well thanks for that!" Mike said sarcastically. "It's 1948! You just described half the population of the city!"

"I'm sorry alright! It was dark!" Spike screeched. Mike just groaned and started stroking the bridge of his nose impatiently.

"Alright, did you give the patrolman your details?" Mike asked him. Spike just nodded. "Fine, then you can go. We'll contact you if we need anything else."

With that, Spike started to pack up what remained of his stock, muttering about how his boss was going to kill him for losing almost a whole shift's takings. Mike just went back to Ji, who was overseeing the scene as Serena's body was being loaded into a Coroner's van.

"Ji...Um...Captain Bowson." Mike stated. "I got the statement from the kid. He didn't see much, but he says he saw a Black Lincoln and a couple of toughs. He said he thought they might be Switchblade Kyle's guys."

"So, what are you waiting for, a written invitation?" He asked. "Call it in to R&I and chase it up!"

"Sure thing Captain." Mike groaned, turning and walking away to a nearby phone booth, and looking out some coins. "Man, this is going to be one strange story."

Back in the real world, Ji, Mia and Serena arrived at the theatre, looking around for any signs of the Rangers. Ji had his Samuraizer at the ready. He wasn't fully healed, but since carrying Kasamune wasn't an option, since carrying a full-size katana in the city for most people would be a good way to spend the afternoon in a police holding cell, that meant he was the only one with any powers or weapons to hand.

"It doesn't look like the staff have had the nerve to return." Serena commented. Looking around, she saw some CCTV cameras, and just looked to Ji. "I'm on it."

As they started to look through the wreckage in the lobby, they found something rather odd. Ji bent down, picking up a reel of film that was lying beneath some popcorn littering the floor. He inspected it thoughtfully, seeing it had a blue label on it, with the title, "The Blue Temple."

"That's odd." Ji stated.

"I didn't think cinemas used 8mm film anymore." Mia commented.

"They don't." Ji assured her. "Some use larger reels. Most nowadays use hard drives."

"Here's another one!" Mia called out, running over and picking one up, seeing that it was entitled 'The Yellow Princess', and had a yellow label on it. "And here's another!"

A moment later, after sifting carefully through all the debris, they had collected six film reels in all, each of which had a different colour label on it.

"Six film reels, all with different coloured labels." Ji commented. "Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink and Gold."

"Why do I get the feeling it's even odds that this isn't a coincidence?" Mia asked him. Just then, Serena ran back into the lobby.

"Guys, come and check this out!" Serena announced. "You're going to want to see this."

They followed her to the security room, at which she brought up the lobby footage on the screen. They all watched in horror as Terry got blasted and disappeared.

"That was by the men's room." Ji announced, holding up the pink film reel. "That's where we found this."

"Wait...is that...?" Mia started to say as the others got blasted in turn and disappeared. She saw a bright light dissipating, at which she saw the familiar figures appear in the lobby. "Is that...the Shogun?"

"Did...did you know they could do this?" Serena asked Ji. He just gave her a disbelieving look.

"Do you really think I'd have kept this to myself if I knew?" He asked her. They watched as in a dismissive display, the ancient Shogun spirits...or...whatever they were, utterly destroyed all the Moogers and the Nighlock.

"Wow, that was impressive." Mia commented.

"Uh, yeah, but if the Nighlock's gone..." Serena asked, taking the Yellow film reel. "Why are our friends all still film reels?"

"Wait, Mike's talking with them." Serena told them. "Do these things have audio?"

"It doesn't look like it." Ji answered. "Maybe I can piece something together back home. We certainly can't leave the footage here to be found by the police. I'll download the footage and run it through the computers back home."

"Uh...Ji, is that...I hear sirens." Mia commented.

"Great, no way we all make it out." Serena added.

"It looks like the cinema is an appropriate setting then." Ji told them, taking the downloaded footage, before erasing all the hard drives from that day. "Serena, give me the film reels."

"Sorry?" She asked him.

"You two will have to do some acting." Ji told them as he morphed into the Black Ranger. "I'll get these back home. When the cops arrive, just act like you hid when the Nighlock attacked."

With that, he left the room. They knew it was a good, solid plan, he was the only one with a morpher, it just kind of sucked that they would be spending the afternoon getting interviewd by police.

"So, how's your acting?" Serena asked her.

"I managed to turn on the waterworks to get a jeweller to trade my engagement ring for a cheaper one." Mia assured her. "You?"

"Lead in my Elementary School play." She answered.

A few moments later, a few cops burst into the security room. Serena and Mia immediately started screaming, and threw up their hands, cowering together under the desk. One of the cops put away her gun.

"It's alright, ladies, it's alright, the monsters are gone!" She told them. "You're safe now, you can come out."

Serena and Mia came out slowly, being guided out of the room by the cops.

"We just ran as soon as they showed up!" Serena lied expertly. "We got lost, so we hid in here!"

"It's alright, but you are the only ones here, so we'll need to ask you a few questions." The other cop told them as they got outside, gesturing to a patrol car. "We're going to have to ask you to come to the station."

As they got into the car, no doubt cursing the fact they would be spending a couple of hours at the police station, Ji watched for a moment from a nearby rooftop, before rushing off towards the Shiba House. The girls had made a sacrifice, the least he could do was ensure that by the time they got back, he would have something to tell them.

Back in his movie, Mike got back to the station, no easy feat considering the fact he didn't actually know where it was. The guy he stopped in the street to ask for directions seemed understandably confused when a guy driving around in a police car didn't know where the station was, but he finally got back to the station, and even managed to find the homicide office with a little help from some signs on the wall. Finding his own desk though was going to be a little trickier. He knew that his character was referred to as Jensen, but that didn't mean to say it would be easy.

"Hey Jensen, did you get a promotion I didn't know about?" Bowson...or Ji as Mike saw him stated as Mike sat at a desk. He looked around, seeing a picture of Bowson and who he presumed was his wife...played predictably by Brenda by the looks of it.

"Uh...sorry, I just got...um..."

Bowson grabbed him roughly, marching him over to a desk in the corner and sat him down roughly, grabbing a slightly grubby name plate. He showed it to him.

"You see this sign? The one that says Detective Rocco Jensen?" He asked. "That means THIS is your desk. Is that too confusing for you?"

"No...thank you sir." He answered. Bowson just shook his head in disdain, before heading back to his own desk.

Mike started to look through his notebook, and shuffled some stuff around on his desk, pretending he was doing something. He didn't know what to do from here. It wasn't like he could use much of his real-world knowledge in this place. Seemingly, everyone else believed they were their assigned characters. He had contacted R&I about the information he got at the scene, but for now, all he could do was wait until either R&I or Autosy got back to him with more information.

His phone started ringing, and he just smiled.

"Got to love the movies." He commented. He knew that in reality, any of that kind of information would likely have taken days, maybe weeks to come by in 1948. Of course, in the movies, that wasn't such an issue. No one wanted to watch a five or six week long movie. He picked up the phone.

"This is R&I calling for Detective Jensen." The voice on the other end stated.

"What do you have for me?" He asked.

"I'm still looking for your Black Lincoln, but we have an address on your victim." The voice continued. "Selene Moller, 83 Evergreen Market. She lives there with her sister Emma."

"She has a sister?" Mike asked, a little smile crossing his face. He knew that most of the main parts in this story would be played by people he knew. Since Selene had a sister, he couldn't help hoping that might mean he had found Emily in this little tale. "Alright, thanks."

With that, he got up from the desk. Bowson just looked to him as he started to leave.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Uh...I just got an address on the victim's next of kin." He stated. "I'm just going to inform them, take a statement, see what I can turn up."

"Well, did you remember your gat?" Bowson asked him.

"My...?" Mike was about to ask, before remembering that it was the forties. He cast his mind to some of the old movies he loved so much. Gat was a slang term for a gun. He checked inside his suit jacket, finding that he was wearing a shoulder-harness, carrying an automatic pistol. He just smiled and looked to his boss.

"Never go anywhere without it." He replied.

"Then get out of here and get a killer off my streets!" He replied. Mike practically ran through the station back to the car, and leapt in, before starting up the engine and pulling away into the street. He got a couple of streets away, before screeching to a halt and cursing his luck. He had managed to make that mistake once again.

"Where the hell's Evergreen Market?" He asked. He got out the car, heading into a nearby store in search of directions.


	3. Mike's New Lead

In the real world, in Central Panorama Police Station, Mia was sitting in a waiting area with Serena, waiting to be interviewed about the incident at the movie theatre. There was really very little they could tell the police, certainly nothing that wouldn't expose the real reason they were there. Serena was fidgeting nervously, chewing her fingernails.

"Serena, you have to try and relax." Mia told her. "I know it's hard, but if we just stick to the story we'll be fine."

Serena didn't answer her. Mia just sighed.

"Look, they found us in the security office, but we gave them a reasonable explanation for why we were there." Mia reminded her. "We were just watching a movie...let's say Wild Foxtrot, and then the monster..."

"Nighlock." Serena stated. Mia just shook her head.

"Who other than us uses that name?" Mia asked her. "The monster showed up. In the confusion, we got lost and hid in the security office."

"What if they don't believe us?" Serena asked.

"What does it matter? It's up to them to prove differently." Mia assured her. "If we just stick to the story, they can only hold us for questioning, and then if they don't charge us with anything, they have to let us go."

Serena didn't look convinced. This part of the plan really sucked. While they weren't really under arrest, they knew at the time there was no way they could leave the theatre unseen, and so they had to go with the police. She hadn't had the best of relationships with authorities, during her quest for Kasamune, she had ended up being detained by a government agency under suspicion of terrorism, and while Hayley and Stephen had ensured that all traces of those records had been destroyed, it still left somewhat of a mark when it came to the idea of spending too much time around the police station.

"How can you be so calm?" Serena asked her.

"Like I said, there's nothing they can pin on us." Mia told her. Serena suddenly got a thought.

"This isn't your first time in a police station is it?" She asked. Mia was noticeably silent. "That's it isn't it? You've..."

"Shhh!" Mia hissed, looking around. She didn't exactly want it broadcast when they were about to be interviewed. "It's not important."

"There's a story there, I know it!" Serena commented with a little smirk. "Don't think I'm going to stop asking about this."

"Fine, I'll tell you later." Mia muttered. "Until then, just remember. Stick to the story, don't offer anything other than what they ask for directly, and hopefully we'll be out of here soon. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get back and help Ji."

Just then, a female officer came into the waiting area.

"Mia Watanabe?" She asked. Mia looked up. "We're ready for you now. Come with me."

Mia just looked to Serena, wordlessly trying to remind her that they just needed to ride this out, and get back to the Shiba House as quickly as they could.

Back at the Shiba House meanwhile, Ji was working hard. Being on his own, he had to use all of the skills and facilities at his disposal, rushing around as he tried to figure out what had happened to the Rangers, and more importantly, if there was a way to get them back. He had Antonio's computer working on the security footage he had lifted from the cinema, setting it to run multiple scans on the footage, while he worked on a number of books.

The Nighlock wasn't in any of the books he had found, but seeing as it was based on a video camera, technology that wouldn't have existed until early the previous century, and well after the time of the ancient Samurai, he wasn't especially surprised. What it did mean was that it was a relatively young Nighlock, one created within the last century or so, meaning its powers should still have been developing.

Developing! He couldn't believe he hadn't thought about it before! Putting down a book, he ran into his room, throwing open a closet and pulling out a few boxes. A little rummaging later, and he found what he was looking for. He pulled out his old cine player, smiling as he did so. It had been years since he had used it. It had belonged to his father, and as a treat growing up, he sometimes brought it out to play it for Jayden. Some of Ji's older family movies, and some of his favourite classic movies were on cine film.

Rushing back through to the Living Room, he placed it down on the table, beginning to set it up. He looked to the film reels he had found in the cinema. He wasn't sure he was doing the right thing, but with no better plan, and uncertain as to when, or even if the computer would find something useful in the footage from the security cameras, he picked up one of the reels. He loaded it into the projector, carefully winding it into place, and starting it playing. He switched off the lights and started to watch.

He saw that it started to roll, showing a movie of some description, not unlike some of the classic movies his father had loved so much. It was only as he saw it roll on a little, he finally saw something odd. Jayden appeared on screen, and seemed to be acting like a character from the film. A little further in, he saw that many of the characters appeared to be played by the Rangers...and even a few others he recognised, including himself!

"What's going on here?" He asked.

Back in his movie, Mike finally found his way to Emma's house. It wasn't easy considering the fact that he knew nothing about the city this film was set in, but he finally managed it.

He pulled up outside the house, a quaint little bungalow on the edges of town. All the houses in the street were more or less the same, surrounded by well-kept yards, but this one was covered in flower bushes, and had trellises either side of the door. Mike went up to the door, confirming the house number, before knocking on the door.

He heard some movement from inside, and waited patiently. Eventually, the door opened a little, held in place with a chain. He could see an eye, and a little bit of wavy hair. Just as he thought, Emma was being played by Emily. For a moment, he harboured some hope that she would recognise him, but that was quickly dashed.

"Can I help you sir?" She asked him. Mike searched through his pockets, finding his badge.

"Detective Jessop." He introduced himself. "Emma Moller?"

"Yes?" She asked him a little nervously.

"I need to talk to you about your sister, Selene." He continued. "Can I come inside?"

Emma let the door off the chain, and opened it, letting him in. Mike came through to the Living Room, where Emma gestured to the couch.

"You wanted to talk to me about Selene?" She asked. "She's normally home by now. Is everything alright?"

"I'm afraid I have some bad news." Mike told her. "Your sister was murdered a couple of hours ago."

"Selene's..." Emma started to say. Mike hated this story with a vengeance. Even knowing that it was fiction, he couldn't bear to see Emily hurt or upset. He wanted to move across, to just hold her in his arms, to assure her that everything was alright, and that he would be there for her, but he had to remind himself that in this story, Emma and Jessop had only just met as far as he knew. He pulled out his notepad.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He said quietly as he tried to compose himself. "I know this is difficult, but I need to ask you some questions."

"Um...alright." She responded, struggling to try and concentrate on what was happening. He looked to her sympathetically.

"Would you say you have a good idea who your sister normally hangs around with? Who her friends are?" He asked her. Emma just nodded.

"Our parents are both dead." She informed him. "We've been living together ever since we moved here. We...we were very close."

"Would you say that you know anyone who would want to hurt Selene?" He asked. Emma just shook her head.

"No, Selene was a wonderful person. Everyone loved her." She told him. "The guys at the bar, the neighbours...everyone."

"So, you can't think of anyone who had a problem with her?" He asked. "Anyone at all? An ex-boyfriend, someone she owed money..."

"I can't think of anyone..." She started to say, before stopping as she seemed to think of something. "Wait; there was one guy that was hanging around her a lot at the club. He seemed to always be there when she was on shift, like he memorised her rota or something. He tried to buy her drinks a few times, but she said she wasn't interested. He was kind of a creepy guy."

"Do you know his name?" Mike asked her. She shook her head.

"I only saw him one time I went to pick her up outside the club after a late shift. She was telling him she didn't want to hang around with him." She recalled.

"Can you describe him?" Mike asked her. She just nodded.

"He was tall, he had bright eyes...he had this really weird grin, totally freaky." She stated. "I think he might have been hurt in the war or something, it didn't seem normal."

"Do you know if he had a car?" Mike asked her. She nodded.

"Yeah, a big fancy one." She stated. "It was black, and it looked really expensive."

Mike was starting to piece it together. He remembered Spike telling him that the car at the scene, the one that took out his news stand, was a black Lincoln. Potentially, this gave him a suspect.

"I also heard someone mentioned in connection with the case, someone called Switchblade Kyle." He told her. Emma just rolled her eyes. "I guess you've heard of him?"

"Who hasn't in this town? He runs protection across most of the city." She informed him. "The owner of the club, Jarvis, pays him kickbacks to stop accidents happening. His boys come around every once in a while."

"Do you have any idea where I can find him?" Mike asked. Emma just shook her head.

"No, but I'm sure Jarvis does." She told him. "Jarvis White, he owns the club. He's there most days."

Mike just closed his notebook. He really wanted to hold Emma, to do something to comfort her, but he was sure she would only find it odd if someone she had only just met suddenly hugged her.

"You probably don't want to be alone tonight." Mike suggested. "Is there anyone you can stay with? Anyone to support you?"

"I could always stay with Keith and Maya tonight." She answered. "My sister...when can I...?"

"She's in autopsy right now." He informed her. "The department will be in touch about when she can be released."

Mike gathered his belongings, and headed back to the car, intending to head back to the station. He was sure he had an apartment, but he had already had the embarrassment of having to ask where the police station was, without having to ask where his own home was. He figured he would have to begin the case again in the morning.

Back in the real world, Mia was waiting in the waiting room as Serena was finally allowed out of her interview. Just as they had discussed, they had only told the cops their story, and offered no other information. There was nothing they could really tell them that wouldn't involve explaining the whole Ranger thing, and that was pretty much the last thing they needed.

It was beginning to get late, the interviews having taken a couple of hours, but in the end, they were indeed both being released, just as Mia had assured her.

"Well?" Mia asked her.

"We can go." Serena told her as they left the police station. Mia flagged down a cab. "Well, now we can see what Ji knows."

"He has had a couple of hours to work on things." Mia told her. "Don't you have a lesson to teach soon?"

"Somehow I think this is a little more important." Serena sighed. "I really don't think I can face teaching tonight. I'll ask Cody's dad to cover for me."

"I can't blame you I guess." Mia agreed as they got into the cab, giving him the address for the Shiba House. "I mean, my fiancé and my brother are trapped in there. I understand how you feel."

Serena just nodded in response, staring out the window wordlessly as the cab took them home.

Back at the Shiba House, Ji had spent some time watching the films, finding a common theme among them. All of them seemed to star the Rangers, and a number of people that they knew. The computer was still analysing the security footage, trying to extract anything it could from it.

He was watching through the red reel again, trying to fathom what was happening to his Rangers, and what the films meant. It was then that he noticed something incredibly odd. He ran the reel back a bit, before running it forward again.

"That isn't the same as before." Ji commented. The scene did indeed play out differently. It was like the film had ended, and been re-shot somehow. He replayed the scene yet again, and as he listened in closely, he noticed something else. Jayden's character called Antonio's character Antonio, only to receive a confused look.

He got another reel, this time the Blue reel, and played it, noticing something similar happening. Was it possible that only the 'star' of the movie knew that it actually WAS a movie?

Just then, the computer bleeped, and he went to check on one of the scans. The computer had cleaned up the audio, separating out the strains, and had finally come up with a reconstruction of the conversation between Mike and the Shogun.

"_Look, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but what about my team?"_ Mike asked. _"Normally when we blow up the Nighlock, any spells they cast end. All my friends are still film reels."_

"_That is our doing."_ The Grand Shogun told him. _"You have all grown soft."_

"_Weak."_ The Blue Shogun added.

"_Vulnerable!" _The Green Shogun concluded.

"_Well, I hate to bring it up, but you're kind of running out of descendents." _ Mike stated bitterly, hating being chastised by ghosts of century's dead ancestors this way_. "We're kind of your only shot!"_

"_If you think that, you are as dense as you are soft!" _ the Grand Shogun snapped. _"We gave the war to our children and our descendents because we believed they would exceed us, not become a bunch of whining children."_

"_Look, my friends...my fiancée is a reel of 8mm cine roll right now!" _Mike stated, tears of anger and anguish running down his face. _"Tell me what I have to do to get them back!"_

The Spirit Shogun Rangers all turned towards each other, and discussed things for a moment. Eventually, they turned back to him.

"_The Nighlock had a unique curse; one we think will provide us with a test of your worth." _The Grand Shogun told him. _"Your friends are all trapped in stories of their own creation."_

"_What?"_ Mike asked for clarification.

"_Everyone loves different fiction."_ The Yellow Shogun answered. _"If they can bring their story to a satisfactory conclusion, they can go free, and will have proved themselves worthy of the power we have gifted them."_

"_If they cannot." _The Blue Shogun added, stepping forward. _"We take that power back, and we finish the war."_

"_What about me?"_ Mike asked them. The Green Shogun just levelled his sword his way.

"_You had to ask."_ He replied. With that, Mike vanished, leaving a film reel behind.

"The Shogun did this?" Ji asked. He pondered what he now knew. It seemed to confirm his suspicion. "The films...each of the Rangers has their own film. They have to finish them themselves!"

He then remembered seeing the films replaying differently each time. The Shogun's words echoed in his mind.

"They have to bring their story to a satisfactory conclusion. If they can't...the film must begin again! They could be trapped forever!"

He turned his attention back to the film playing on the cine projector and took a deep breath.

"Stay strong Rangers." He willed them, knowing there was no way to help them from outside the films. "You can do this, I know you can."


	4. Genre Savvy

Mike woke up in his/Jefferson's car, stretching out the kinks. It wasn't a comfortable sleep by any means; he had slept in his car the whole night with one intention in mind.

He got out the car, and made his way over to the club as he saw two men approaching. One of them turned, reaching inside his coat.

"That isn't necessary." Mike told them, holding up his badge. "I'm Detective Jessop."

"Jarvis White." One of them declared. It took a moment, but beneath the slicked-back hair and the white suit, Mike recognised Jayden. "This is my bodyguard Anthony." He saw Antonio nodding.

"Is he only your bodyguard?" Mike asked. Anthony slammed him against a wall.

"I don't know what you're suggesting mister!" Anthony barked at him. Jarvis just shook his head.

"Anthony..." He begged him, guiding him away. "You will forgive us if we do not advertise it. 1948 is hardly the most enlightened of times. You'd think after facing true evil, the world would be more accepting of love in its various forms."

Mike just nodded and straightened out his suit as Anthony released him, before gesturing him inside.

He sat Mike down in a booth, and waved Anthony away. Mike couldn't help noticing that there was a little warning glare in Anthony's eyes as he left.

"Bloody Mary?" Jarvis asked him. "Anthony makes a..."

"I'm here to talk about Selene Moller." Mike interrupted him. "I understand she worked here."

"Yeah, she did." Jarvis stated. "She was a good dancer, good waitress...God, she was a great person. She was one of the few that knew about me and Anthony, but she never judged us, not once."

"I hear she had regular contact with Switchblade Kyle's boys..."

"No, she had regular contact with Silus." Jarvis stated, shaking his head. "Creepy bastard, he hung around her like flies round a..."

"I get the point." Mike answered. "So, does Silus have a surname?"

"You think these bastards are on my Christmas card list?" He demanded. "I know Switchblade Kyle normally hangs around the cannery on third. Beyond that, who knows where his goons are until they show up insisting on payment."

"So you pay him protection?" Mike asked. Anthony came back with two drinks, handing one to Jarvis, and slamming the other on the table near Mike, spilling some. Mike looked to him and picked it up.

"Everyone pays him protection." Jarvis explained. "It takes the cops an average of thirty minutes to respond to a call. In half an hour, this place could be a pile of ash. You do the maths."

"Thanks for the drink." Mike told Anthony as he left, taking a sip. He wasn't much of a drinker, especially not at ten in the morning, but he knew standards were different in this time, and he had to blend in. He just took a sip of his Bloody Mary to not appear rude.

"So, Silus..."

"Silus hung around her like a bad smell." Jarvis stated. "Normally Kyle's boys just take their payment and go, but Silus...he was always around. He really creeped people out with that grin of his. I couldn't tell him to go because I was worried about what he'd say to Kyle."

"Does anyone know more about Kyle?" Mike asked.

"Selene was well known to the staff." Jarvis told him. "Maybe Sato knows something."

"Sato?" Mike asked him.

"The barman." Jarvis replied. "He's pretty much always around. He insists...hell, he practically begs to be on the same shifts as Selene. I always suspected he had a thing for her."

"Had a thing for her?" Anthony chuckled as he lit up a cigarette. "He was obsessed."

"Anthony, that's not the kind of talk to be throwing around right now." Jarvis replied, flicking his eyes in Mike's direction.

"Where can I find Kyle?" Mike asked. "Better yet, what's his phone number? I have an idea that will probably end all of this."

Jarvis scribbled down a number and handed it to Mike. Mike just took his drink and made his way to the phone.

"You don't mind if I use your club do you?" Mike asked rhetorically. Jarvis just shrugged.

"I doubt I have a choice." He replied.

Back in the Shiba House, Serena and Mia came back into the house, finding the lights out, and Ji running around like a maniac. He was checking every source at his disposal, and puling in a lot of favours for even the slightest advance in knowledge.

"The films are the Rangers." He told them.

"Say what now?" Serena asked. "We just spent a couple of hours..."

"The Rangers are trapped in another realm, namely the realm of their respective movies!" Ji explained. "They will be trapped that way until they prove they are worthy by finding a suitable ending for their films."

"Ji..."

"I know what I'm talking about!" Ji barked before Mia could say anything else. "Please, if you don't believe me..."

Ji turned on the cine projector, and they watched a film starting to roll. Serena and Mia both gasped.

"Is that...Terry?" Mia asked him. He just nodded.

"We need to find a way to help them." Ji answered.

"What happens if we don't?" Serena asked. He just sighed.

"From what I've seen, the ancient Shogun are keeping the Nighlock's curse in effect." He told them. "If they can't find a suitable ending for their stories, they will relive them until they do."

Serena turned towards the projection on the wall, and seemed to stop breathing. Mia brought her back to her senses with a hard shove.

"Serena, we're working here!" She reminded her. "My brother and my fiancé are in there, it's not just you that's missing loved ones."

"Huh?" She grunted, looking like she wasn't really paying attention.

"I'm worried about Emily too." She reminded her. "Now, let's help Ji and figure out if there's something we can do to help."

Serena reluctantly just nodded and went to a pile of books, hoping she could find some way to help.

Back in the movie, Mike had called a number of people, finding all the numbers he wanted, before sitting and waiting. Like all good murder mysteries, the ending had to be a dramatic scene.

His head jerked up as he saw someone enter. Despite the suit, the expertly-tailored suit, he could see that it was Xandred.

"Switchblade Kyle." Jarvis whispered to him. "He's the..."

"I got the message." Mike cut him off, looking to the two men accompanying him. He looked to one, played by Serrator. "I guess you're Sirus?"

"I am." Serrator replied. "I understand this is about Selene?"

"We have one more to wait for." Mike told them. A moment later, his face lit up as Emma, played by Emily, arrived, looking around a little disturbed.

"You...you called us all here?" Jarvis asked him. "What...?"

"It's in all your best interests to hear this." Mike told them. He gestured to the barman. "A round of drinks here, now!"

As the barman left, Emma walked over to him.

"What's this about?" She asked him. "You said you had..."

"I know exactly what's going on." Mike assured them. "And I know exactly what to do."

As the barman arrived, putting a tray down on the table, Mike smiled.

"Thanks." He stated, before pulling out his gun. The barman pulled a gun too, but he was much too slow. By the time he had it out, Mike had put three bullets in his chest.

"What the...?" Jarvis stuttered.

"Get out of here." Mike told them. "All of you, get out NOW!"

"But..."

"Do it!" Mike barked. They all ran out the door, while Mike paced back and forth. He just sneered.

"You can stop acting now Sato." He sneered. The barman, who was a moment before lying dead on the floor, kipped up back to his feet. The wounds healed over, and he just nodded.

"Impressive." He stated. "How did you know?"

"There are two rules in Noir films." Mike told him. "Rule one; it never ends well for the good guy."

"And the second?" Sato asked him.

"It's always the barman." Mike told him with a little smirk. "Or the shoe shine guy, or the paper guy...it's always the least significant guy in the story to keep the audience guessing. Jarvis told me you always worked the same shifts as Selene, that makes me think that you...well...your character, was obsessed with her. That's motive enough for me."

"Well, let's see what you do with it." Sato asked, leaping high into the air, planting both feet in Mike's ribcage, before flipping away. He adopted a guarding stance, while Mike got back to his feet.

"Sato." Mike stated. "You're the Green Shogun?"

"Let's see what you do with that knowledge!" Sato replied as he rushed towards Mike.

Back at the Shiba House, the girls were poring through books, hoping to find something Ji had missed, while he ran between his computer, and the cine projector. Serena slammed down the book she was reading angrily.

"God damn it!" She screamed. What the f..."

"Serena, we can't take these things personally." Mia reminded her. "There's always a curse or a spell..."

"Not like this!" Serena spat bitterly. "This one's been put in place by the Shogun, our ANCESTORS!"

"Serena..."

"Those bastards decided that what they were doing wasn't enough and just cursed them?" She continued to rant. "What the hell have they been doing for the last few hundred years? If they had that kind of power...?"

"Serena..."

"Why the hell did they have to come back at all?" Serena asked. "They've done nothing but good! Jayden, Kevin, Emily...hell, even Mike's stepped up to the plate more than a few times."

"Serena..."

"What did he do to deserve this?" Serena snapped. Mia just shook her head. A moment later, they were both stunned as the green film reel started to glow. A moment later, Mike and an unknown Oriental man came out in a burst of light. Mike stood over the other man, his fists still balled, as he lay there, barely breathing.

"Mike?" Mia asked him.

"We're all trapped in movies." Mike told them. "This is my great great...whatever...grandfather Sato."

"Mike..."

"We're being cursed; we need to bring the stories to good endings." Mike told them. "I got out of mine because I was genre savvy. I cheated a little and ended it early. The others might not be so lucky."

Ji came running into the room, at which Sato just vanished. He looked to Mike.

"Mike?" He asked.

"I have an idea." He told them. "It's risky, it's probably stupid, and it has about an eighty percent chance of getting us killed."

"Not the greatest odds, but they'll have to do." Mia stated. "What is it?"

"You all remember Rhinosnaurus?" He asked them. "We entered the dream realm..."

"With the gateway symbol!" Ji concluded. "Do you think it will work?"

"I have no idea." Mike answered honestly. "But the Shogun did say that these stories are based in our own imagination, and we create them. That sounds like a dream to me."

"Me too." Serena stated. "Alright Ji, send us in!"

Ji pulled out his Samuraizer, and cast a couple of symbols in the air. He cast them forth, at which the three all disappeared into some of the film reels. He sighed and cast the same symbol on the floor.

"I hope you're right Mike." He stated, before leaping into the symbol, which disappeared as he did so. Now, they were all at the whim of the ancestors.

Mike woke up, lying on a rough, wooden surface. He got up, and looked around, seeing many people looking at him like they had seen a ghost. They were all wearing...well...Mike could only describe it as like half of the cast were doing bad Jack Sparrow impressions.

Just then, something else caught him. He could feel his stomach churning, and feeling the surface moving, he knew he was at sea. He ran to the side of the ship, and hurled his lunch into the ocean to a round of laughter from the others.

"It's not like you to be seasick lad." He heard a familiar voice behind him as the others continued to laugh. Mike just turned, seeing the figure behind him.

"Kevin?" He asked. Just then, his expression dropped.

"How...?" He looked around nervously, before looking back to Mike, holding him closely. "How do you know that name?"

"You always were obsessed with water." Mike commented. "Trust you to come up with a tale that's based on a ship."

"Mike?" Kevin asked him. Mike nodded.

"Yeah, it's me, not...whoever I'm meant to be." Mike told him. "This is going to sound weird but..."

"Mike, I've already died five times." Kevin answered. "I always end up back here, starting again. I know this isn't real."

"We've been cursed." Mike informed him. "We keep living out our own stories until we get a good ending."

"I guess dying isn't a good ending." Kevin chuckled. "So, you..."

"I've finished my story." Mike informed him. "I'm here to help you finish yours. Now...if you don't mind..."

Mike turned back over the side of the ship and hurled again. Kevin just sighed.

"Well that inspires confidence." He stated sarcastically.


	5. A Ship and a Plague

Mike was soon below deck, feeling only a little better. That was more down to the fact he was pretty sure he had nothing left in his stomach to lose than any hope he had somehow gotten over seasickness completely. The ship's doctor, played by Terry, was tending to him.

He was wearing period clothing, appropriate to the story. A leather waistcoat over a canvas shirt, and strong, canvas breeches. He had a bandana tied over his head. Fortunately, he seemed to be able-bodied, having none of the stereotypical makeshift prosthetics of a pirate, and no missing eye. It gave him more faith in his abilities as a doctor.

"Well, I've never seen anyone just suddenly become seasick Pigeon." He stated.

"Pigeon?" Mike asked. Terry just looked to him; like he was concerned he was losing his mind. He remembered some of the pirate movies he had seen, and knew that they often got given nicknames by their crews. Clearly, in this story, he was 'Pigeon', somewhat of an unflattering nickname all things considered, but he had a feeling that things could be worse.

"Normally, I'd think it was too much sun or too much rum, but it's only an hour since we set sail." Terry continued. "Perhaps it was something you ate in Cyprus."

"Probably." Mike concluded. Just then, Kevin showed up. He was wearing a far more elaborate costume, a long, black coat, over huge, black boots, and a silk shirt. Given the difference between the clothing Kevin was wearing, and that worn by himself and Terry, he was a more important member of the crew, something that kind of fit considering it was Kevin's story. He had a long, ornate, curved cutlass, with a gold-plated, jewel-encrusted hilt hanging at his hip, and a pair of pistols at the opposite side.

"How is he Bones?" Kevin asked.

"He's fine for now sir." He commented. "Although I would recommend he quickly figure out if there's something he can eat and keep down. The crow's nest is going to be far from fun if you keep throwing up is it Pigeon?"

With that, Terry left the room. Mike just looked back to Kevin.

"The crow's nest?" Mike asked him. "As in, the least steady, rockiest, most vomit-inducing part of the ship?"

"Sorry, it was the part you got." Kevin told him.

"Yeah, a part in YOUR story, created by YOUR imagination!" Mike grumbled. "I guess you really do hate me. And what the hell is with Pigeon?"

"Um...it's a nickname you got from the crew." Kevin said a little uneasily. "You joined the crew about a year ago. Apparently you got your nickname from the fact you have good eyesight..."

"So why not Hawk or something?" Mike demanded.

"So you spend all your time in the nest." Kevin informed him. "You're our lookout."

"So why am I not Crow?" Mike asked him. "Come on! Anything would be cooler than Pigeon!"

"Look, is that really the point?" Kevin asked him. "You said this is my story."

"Exactly, so you know why we're here." Mike muttered. "Who are you anyway? Captain..."

"Actually, I'm the First Mate." Kevin informed him. "We're sailing on the notorious ship, the Inferno, formally the HMS Enforcer, under Captain Edward Blaze."

"Let me guess..." Kevin just nodded. "Wow, you really are whipped. Even in your own story you're playing second fiddle."

"Yeah, I guess its part of my mentality now." Kevin agreed with a little chuckle. "We're looking for..."

"The Blue Temple." Mike interrupted him. Kevin just looked a little surprised. "It's the title of your movie."

"Yeah, we're looking for the Blue Temple." Kevin informed him. "Inside is a treasure horde that legend has it makes King Solomon's mines look like a piggy bank, but there's one piece in particular that's of interest to the Captain, the Eye of the Archangel. It's an amulet said to grant immortality on the wearer."

"So, we're meant to find the amulet?" Mike asked. "Why do I get the feeling now's where you tell me why it isn't that simple?"

Kevin just sighed and looked around, making sure they weren't going to be overheard. He pulled closer.

"Alright, there's another ship looking for it too." He told him. "It's a Royal Navy Ship, the HMS Reaper, captained by Captain Horatio Curtis. He's looking for the amulet too on behalf of the King."

"Here we go." Mike said, leaning forward. "So, we just have to beat him to the treasure..."

"Mike, I don't know what I'm meant to do." He informed him. "Twice I got the ship sunk in naval battles. The last twice I made it to the temple before getting run through."

"So...you know where the temple is!" Mike called out. Kevin just nodded. "So...are we heading there now?"

"Not exactly." Kevin responded. "I know where it is because I've been through the story before, but everyone else's memory returns to normal when the story starts again remember? That includes..."

"The Captain's!" Mike called out in realisation. "So he doesn't yet know where the temple is."

"We have to follow the story until he does and sets the right course." Kevin continued. "Fortunately Curtis' crew doesn't know the way yet either."

"Trust you not to be the Captain in your own story." Mike muttered. "Alright, what do we have to do?"

"Well, first of all, we have to make it to port without you hurling again." Kevin stated. "I really appreciate you helping."

"Just expect some serious payback when we get back." Mike warned him as he got up, looking a little ill. "Until then, let's get that amulet."

Meanwhile, Serena woke up, finding herself lying on a bed, with a wafer-thin mattress. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was. Sitting up, she almost hit her head on a bed just above hers, letting her know that she was in a bunk-bed. The room she was in was full of them, and not much else. The walls were smooth, and white, and the floor was gleaming. An all-too familiar scent of bleach and cleaning fluids filled her nostrils, bringing back some horrible memories.

As she got up, and looked around, she noticed a mirror, and looking into it, noticed she was wearing hospital scrubs. She just groaned.

"Well, at least I'm on the right side." She grumbled. She saw she was wearing an ID tag, and read it, finding her picture and a name.

"Nurse Olivia Pirtle." She read aloud. "Yup, at least I'm not a patient."

Just then, an orderly came in, looking around for her, before finding her. She smiled a little to see that it was Jayden.

"Olivia, I hope you've rested." He rushed out. "We got a fresh batch of patients."

"Patients?" She asked. She just rolled her eyes, she was a nurse in this story, and she worked in a hospital. It was only natural there would be patients.

"Yeah, some people broke the military cordon around the downtown area, the plague is spreading." He told her. "The lab's been working non-stop, but with the new admissions, we need all hands on deck."

"Great, that's all we need. An epidemic." Serena muttered. "Well, I guess at least you're here Antonio."

"Um...who's Antonio?" He asked her. "I'm Manuel."

She read his ID badge, and just cursed under her breath. This just made things all the harder, she still didn't know whose story she was in.

"Alright, which ward do they want me in?" She asked him.

"You should talk to Doctor Yoshida." He suggested. "He's the highest ranking guy still on his feet."

"Alright, thanks." Serena stated, rushing out the room to look for him. She could see that every bed in the place was filled, and most of the gurneys were too. People in various states of distress were lying, awaiting treatment, and it was clear that the staff were already overstretched by the way they were rushing around. Some of the patients were already unconscious, while others were groaning, crying out for mercy.

She came to another ward, also full of patients, and noticed that one area in particular was cordoned off. Making her way inside, she found a couple of beds for what looked like highly advanced cases.

She saw one case on the bed, and was horrified to recognise the victim.

"Emily!" She shrieked, rushing to the bedside. She stopped just short as she saw the sign indicating she was a plague victim. Her skin was incredibly pale, and a little waxy. She seemed to be completely unconscious and unresponsive, and was hooked up to several machines, many of which Serena recognised from her own experiences. "Oh, God, please no..."

"Hey, you're not meant to be in here!" A doctor called out. She looked around, seeing a man in a large, paper decontamination suit, with a hood, and a clear plastic visor. Through it, she could see that it was Terry. "You've just exposed yourself! What were you thinking?"

Serena backed up a bit, looking a little worried.

"I didn't mean...I mean...I didn't..." She stammered. "Please, it's my sister!"

"Your...Serena?" Terry asked her. Serena then looked to him, realising that she had now found out whose story she was in.

"Terry?" She asked.

"It's Dr. Yoshida in here." He told her.

"I was expecting Ji to be..." She started, before smacking her forehead. "Of course, you're a med student. Of course you'd want to be the hero in a medical drama."

"Serena, what's going on here?" He asked her. "Why do you now suddenly know who you are?"

This was pretty much exactly the last place she wanted to be. When she had used the gateway symbol, she hadn't seen which film she had gone into. This one was turning into a complete nightmare. Not just because it was set in a hospital, or because she had to see Emily struck down by illness, her life ebbing away slowly. She was also forced into close proximity with Terry. She had barely spent any time with him, or spoken to him since that day on the banks of the stream.

"Um...well...the thing is, this is a curse." She informed him. "The Shogun kind of...cursed you."

"The Shogun?" Terry asked her. "What the hell did I do to them?"

"They think that the Samurai have been taking their power for granted, and they want you to prove yourselves." She explained, trying hard not to look him directly in the eye. "They trapped you each in your respective stories until you manage to come up with a good ending."

"A good ending?" Terry asked her incredulously. "Serena...I've lived through this story four times already. It always ends the same way!"

"I'm guessing not good." Serena sighed, looking to Emily, lying stricken on the bed. He just nodded.

"We lose all the patients." He told her. "The lab's doing all they can, and I have the staff running around like maniacs, but we're facing an uphill struggle. The chief of medicine...that's Ji by the way...he was put out of action a couple of days ago."

"Well, we don't have a choice, we need to cure this." Serena told him. "If we don't, we'll just keep repeating the story until we do find a way."

"Well, I've already got a few leads from previous tries." Terry informed her. "But I just can't get the solution in time."

"Wait, you can't get it in time." Serena stated. "But you only get patients once they're already in an advanced state."

"Yeah, it takes the military a while to get the patients to us." He answered.

"How about someone who's just been exposed?" Serena asked him. Terry just looked to her, his eyes wide in shock.

"Serena, we can only assume you've been exposed. We don't even know if the virus has taken yet." He told her. "It's possible..."

Serena reached for a tray next to Emily's bedside, and grabbed a syringe, plunging it into Emily and drawing some blood.

"Serena no!" He screamed, reaching out for her, but unable to stop her before she injected herself. "Serena, what the hell?"

"Now we can be pretty sure I've been exposed." Serena informed him.

"Serena, you just..."

"I gave you a newly-infected subject to study." Serena told him. "Believe me; I spent long enough being a human pincushion that I know what I'm in for."

"Serena, I don't know if I can cure you!" He informed her.

"Well, there's one way to find out." She answered. "Get me to the lab and do all the tests you want."

Terry could hardly believe what she had done. In reality, what she had just done was tantamount to suicide. He wasn't even sure how this curse would work, whether he would be the only one that came back if he failed this time. He didn't know if Serena could die for real in here. He just took her by the arm and guided her out of the cordoned area, towards a soldier wearing decontamination gear.

"This nurse just got contaminated." He informed him. "Mishap with a needle."

"What?" The soldier asked, looking to him. Serena could see that it was Jayden. "Oh my God..."

"I said get her to the lab! We need to get to work as quickly as we can!" Antonio informed him. "She's only just been exposed! We need to get to work before the virus spreads too far!"

"Alright, come this way." He instructed her. As they escorted Serena, she felt Terry putting an arm around her.

"I can't believe you just did that." He told her.

"It's Emily." Serena answered.

"Serena, I don't know if..."

"Well, I really hope you can." Serena told him, looking to him. "I might have just given you your best shot."

Terry just nodded, but kept his fear to himself. He didn't know if they would BOTH get another shot at this. He knew he would, but he didn't know how the curse would work on Serena. It was possible that she had just put her faith in him finding a cure by gambling her life on him.

Mike was all too grateful as the ship got into the port, rushing down the gangplank and throwing himself onto the pier, hugging the ground. Kevin came along, grabbing him and hauling him to his feet as the rest of the crew started laughing.

"Mike, at least TRY and act like you've been sailing before." Kevin whispered. "Remember, Pidgeon's meant to have been sailing most of his life."

"I really hate you." Mike grumbled. Just then, a man wearing a huge, crimson coat, and a large hat came striding down the gangplank, and patted Mike on the shoulder. He was chuckling.

"I thought you had sea legs Pigeon." He stated. Mike noticed that it was Jayden, or in this story, Captain Blaze. "Come on lads, Curtis will be on our tail. Get all the provisions and ammo we need. I need to see a man about a map."

"Maybe we should follow..."

"Not a good idea." Kevin told him. "He's ultra cautious. One time I tried to follow him, he ended up sending me back to the ship with a warning that he'd shoot me on sight if I followed him again."

"Wow, even here Jayden's insanely private." Mike answered. "Why's he so cautious?"

"Pirates generally weren't the most trustworthy of people." Kevin reminded him. "If someone knew where he gets his maps, then why would they need him?"

"Fair point I guess." He surmised. "Alright, I guess I'll just stay with the others, make sure none of them get into trouble. If we're going to run into another ship, then we'll need all the crew we can get."

"That sounds like a plan." Kevin answered. "I'll need to stick with the ship. When the Captain's not around, I'm in charge, and if someone takes the ship, then we're done before we start."

"Personal experience?" Mike asked. Kevin just looked a little sheepish.

"First time." He answered. "When I tried following Jayden, I got back to find the ship and the crew gone. He shot me."

"Alright, stick with the ship then." Mike answered. "I'll go with the others."

As Kevin went back onto the ship, Mike couldn't help casting an eye down the path Captain Blaze had taken. He still couldn't help feeling like there was maybe a part of the story they were missing. Making his decision to break with the plan, he headed off down the path, taking a mental note not to let the captain see him.


	6. Terry's Cure

Terry brought Serena to the lab, struggling to keep his panic obvious from her as he got her there. While he had already lived out this story a few times, failing each time, each time he had gotten just a little closer to finding the cure for the plague that was tearing through the city.

Since he had arrived in this movie, he had figured out that he was supposed to be the one to cure the virus. It was only natural that he desired to be the hero, to be the one to end a deadly disease that had already claimed hundreds of victims. Although he had started training to be a doctor, largely at his mother's insistence that she wanted at least one doctor in the family, he had quickly found himself loving medicine. It wasn't his first two years that really sold it for him though, the first two years of medical college generally consisted entirely of books, paperwork and the occasional work with cadavers, it was the times he volunteered at the free clinic for extra credit and experience that convinced him. Actually seeing people at their lowest, and being the one to be there and bring them back to health, sending them away happy was the most amazing feeling to him.

He knew that they were still some way from a cure, but the one thing he had discovered about this movie was that each time it re-started; he remembered what he had done before. He knew all the dead-ends he had run into, he knew all the things he had tried which seemed to take a step closer. He had resigned himself to the fact that he would be here for some time, but that eventually, no matter how many times it took, he would finally find the solution.

Serena's bravery when she came into the story though had created a wrinkle that he would never have anticipated, one that now threw all his calculations, all his thoughts into chaos. As soon as she had seen Emily in the story, struck down by the disease, she hadn't been thinking clearly. She never did when her sister was concerned, even in a fictional world where they weren't truly related. She had intentionally infected herself to give Terry a newly-infected patient to work on. He already knew that the others would make it. They would get as many tries as it took to find a cure. With Serena though, he wasn't sure. She wasn't even meant to be in the story, never mind a victim. While her character would likely come back, he didn't know about her.

He had already almost killed Emily with his ill-considered prank, leading her to end up in shock, something Serena had quite rightly beaten him senseless over. He couldn't bear to think that he had been in any way responsible for what happened to Serena. While she had strictly speaking injected herself, it was as a part of the story created by his mind. If anything happened to her, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

They got to the lab, finding Jayden standing outside, dressed in military fatigues, and carrying an assault rifle. He approached them, holding up a hand.

"Sorry Dr. Yoshida, there's no access..."

"They'll want to admit her." Terry interrupted him.

"I'm sorry; I've got strict instructions..."

"She's been infected." Terry cut him off hurriedly. He showed him the puncture mark where Serena had injected herself. He scowled. "Wow, that's bruised to hell. For someone who's had so many injections, you'd think you'd have some idea how they're given."

"Would you focus please?" Serena begged him. She didn't want to say anything, but she was starting to feel a little buzzing in her head, and she was starting to weaken. Clearly Terry wasn't joking when he said that the virus spread quickly. It did confirm one thing at least, she had been infected.

"Right, sorry." Terry answered, looking back to the soldier. "She's a willing test subject. She's willing to sign any waivers and take any tests..."

"Well, can we do the forms later?" Serena asked. It was only then that Terry noticed that her fingers were starting to tremble. He looked to her in horror.

"Alright, we've confirmed she's infected." He told the soldier. "Now, let us..."

Serena just punched Jayden hard, sending him to the floor. Terry looked down to the unconscious solider, and sighed.

"Wow, you were going easy on me." He commented.

"I didn't have the co-ordination to pull the punch." She told him. "Remind me to apologise to Jayden when I see him."

"You do know that wasn't..."

"Yeah, but I still feel bad." Serena stated. Terry took her into the lab, where they found Kevin and Mia working with some samples. They were both wearing decontamination suits. Seeing Terry and Serena, they both looked stunned.

"Dr..."

"She's been infected." Terry told them. "She had an accident with a needle about ten minutes ago; she's still only in the first stages."

"That's the earliest sample..."

"Which is why I need you to start now!" Serena grumbled. Terry helped her over to the corner, and helped her lie down on a gurney.

"Darn!" Terry stated as his pager went off. As Serena just looked to him, he shrugged. "This story's PG 13, that's as strong as it gets."

"What the fudge...?" She called out. She then furrowed her brows. "This curse means we can't even swear properly?"

"Not here apparently." Terry told her, easing her down. "Just try to relax; I need to get back to the wards."

He looked to Kevin as he came over with some needles, while Mia gathered some monitors.

"Keep me posted on the results." Terry told them. "I want to know everything that happens as soon as it does, and I do mean EVERYTHING!"

He turned back to Serena, looking into her eyes.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." He assured her. "Just...try to relax and...I'll be right back."

He squeezed her hand, gave her a reassuring smile, and then left to attend to his patients, hoping that Serena's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

"Alright, we're just going to keep track of a few vitals..."

"Whatever you need Mia." Serena answered. Mia just looked to Kevin.

"What did she call me?" She asked him.

"I guess the delirium starts earlier than we thought." Kevin answered, drawing off a sample of blood. He looked to it as he walked to his machines. "Alright, let's see what we have here."

Meanwhile, in Mike's movie, he continued to follow Jayden, otherwise known as "Captain Edward Blaze" in this movie, keeping out of sight. He found that Kevin wasn't kidding when he told him that he was incredibly cautious. It seemed like every couple of feet, he would turn around to look for pursuers. Mike was beginning to wonder where he was going, having left the town far behind them.

Eventually, they came to a large expanse of field, at the centre of which was a large manor house. He made his way into the long corn, pushing his way along, keeping out of sight of the Captain. It surprised him to see the Captain heading for somewhere like this.

"What the heck is going on?" Mike asked himself. He continued on his way, coming to the edge of the field just as the Captain got to the porch. He watched as a man, played by Ji came out of the house. He was dressed in fine period clothing, complete with a ridiculous looking woollen wig. He saw the two men shaking hands, before heading inside. Mike furrowed his brows.

"Alright, now I'm completely confused." He stated. Just then, he heard a click. Holding his hands up, he turned around slowly, seeing Serena and Emily standing behind him. Serena was holding a rifle, training it on him.

"Well, I don't care how confused you are, you're trespassing on the Governor's land." She told him. Mike just looked a little confused.

"The Governor?" He asked her. "That was the Governor?"

"I would have thought even a filthy, stupid little pirate like you would know better than to come onto the Governor's land." She continued. "Louisa, go and get some rope."

Emily ran off to fetch the rope, leaving Serena to keep him covered.

"Look, there's obviously some kind of mistake..."

"I know a pirate when I see one." She interrupted him. "Now, make a move, I dare you."

"Great, even in here she hates me." Mike muttered. "Look, I just made a wrong turn..."

"You bet you did." She stated as Emily came back with some rope. "Bind his hands Louisa."

Emily came over, giving him a slightly reproachful look. Mike tried giving her a smile, the one he normally reserved for her, but she didn't seem to respond to it the way she normally did. Instead, she just grabbed his hands roughly behind his back, and started to hitch them together.

"In another world, I might just be enjoying this right about now." He stated. Serena gave him a slightly disgusted look and waved the rifle, reminding him she was there.

"It's alright Erica." Emily told her. "He's just looking for a reaction."

"Well, he just got one." She answered. "Get some more rope. We're going to save the Governor the trouble dealing with this pirate."

"Uh...I'm already tied up." Mike gulped. Serena just shook her head.

"Short drop and a sudden stop." She told him, gesturing to a tree a little way off. "Move it!"

Mike was beginning to panic now. He struggled to get his hands free as Serena marched him, periodically jamming the rifle into his back.

"So much for knowing what a pirate looks like." He sneered. "What about the pirate in the Governor's house right now?"

"What the Governor and Captain Blaze have to discuss is none of your concern." She told him. "Certainly not in a minute or so."

As she went to jam the rifle into his back again, Mike spun sharply, driving it aside, at which it went off, loosing its only shot. He hit Serena with a hard round-house kick, knocking her to the ground, before starting to run off. He saw Emily running his way, carrying a pitchfork. Even though he knew it wasn't really her, he couldn't bring himself to hit her, and took to heel running.

On the porch, a little way off, the Governor and Captain Blaze had overheard the shot, and came out, seeing someone disappearing into the forest.

"What happened?" The Governor asked.

"Some pirate was on your land." Serena told him. "We tried to take care of him, but..."

"It's alright; I doubt he'll be back after that." The Governor told her. "As promised Blaze, here's the map. This is as close as we've gotten to finding the temple."

"If I find this, our bargain...?"

"He will be released, just as we arranged." The Governor agreed, shaking his hand. "Don't let me down Blaze."

"I won't sir." He answered. "I'll set sail as soon as I get back to the ship."

Back in Terry's movie, he was rushing around his patients, trying to keep all of them going, but paying particular attention to Emily. He knew that while Serena was suffering in the lab, one of the few things he could do for her was to keep Emily stable. After checking her vitals, and giving her a treatment to keep her temperature down, he stopped for a moment, and looked to Emily, placing a hand on her forehead.

"You have a pretty amazing sister." He commented, knowing full well that she was unconscious and couldn't respond to what he was saying, likely to correct him that she didn't have a sister. He took a seat next to her. "God, why does she have to pull stuff like this?"

He got no answer. He knew he wouldn't.

"If it was anyone else, I wouldn't believe she would do that, but your sister..." He shook his head. "I still can't stop thinking about everything the two of you have done for each other. It...It reminds me a lot of what I had with my sister."

He just shook his head, letting out a nervous little laugh.

"I guess that's one of the reasons I tried so hard to get her to let up on me." He continued, taking Emily's hand. "I know Mia and I are getting better, but things aren't like they were. I guess in a way...Serena's just a reminder of the kind of person I wish I could have been for Mia."

"Who's Mia?" He heard a voice behind him say. He turned around to see Antonio standing behind him.

"Um...no one." He answered. "I guess I'm just tired."

"I'm not surprised; you've been on the go for twenty three hours straight now." Antonio told him. "You should probably try and get some rest."

"I can't, I'm the senior physician..."

"You're not going to be any use to anyone if you collapse." Antonio reminded him.

"I'm waiting on word from the lab." He put down flatly. "It's the vital piece of the puzzle..."

"Hey, I'm on pretty good terms with the soldier on guard duty." He remarked. "I can get a message to you if they find anything."

Just then, he got a message on his pager. He smiled as he saw it was a message to report to the lab.

"Good news?" Antonio asked him. He just nodded.

"Hopefully, yes." He answered, running in the direction of the lab.

He got to the door, finding Jayden standing there, now with a black eye, and looking decidedly less than happy. He approached Terry, but the stand-in Pink Ranger just held up his hands.

"I don't want..."

"Go in." He instructed him. Terry just looked at him a little puzzled.

"What about quarantine?" He asked.

"It doesn't much matter anymore." Jayden informed him. "Once the General found out about the patient in the lab, he gave the military a new directive."

"What directive?" Terry asked him.

"By Presidential decree, the whole city's now in quarantine, no one in or out, with shoot-to-kill orders to enforce it." He informed him. "That means everyone, myself included, is now trapped here. You wanted your last chance shot, you got it."

"I'm sorry about that." Terry answered. "I'll get the answer, I promise."

"You better." Jayden told him. "Otherwise, I swear I'll shoot you myself."

Terry went into the lab, and immediately went to Serena's side. By now, she was sweating profusely, and incredibly pale.

"I got here as soon as I could." He told her. "Emily's stable. I've been taking really good care of her."

"God, this is worse than the last time." Serena muttered.

"Well, hopefully Kevin's found something." He told her.

"Terry!" She muttered. "About...about the river..."

"You don't need to talk." He assured her. "I know I take things too far."

"Please...let me..." He could see that she was delirious, and struggling to stay awake, never mind speak. He just stroked her hair reassuringly, before going to Kevin and Mia by the desk.

"Alright, what have you got for me?" He asked them.

"We think we have something." Mia told him. "We managed to break down different strains with the treatments you suggested, but we couldn't find something to tie it all together."

"Then, we tried experimenting with everything we had at our disposal." Kevin told him. "Using the virus in its infancy, we managed to get it at its most basic, and really understand what makes it tick."

"So, have you got a cure?" Terry asked.

"See for yourself." Mia answered, gesturing to a microscope. Terry checked it out, seeing the virus in a blood sample breaking down. He smiled.

"We got it?" He asked them. Kevin just nodded.

"Now all we have to do is produce enough of it for all the patients in time." Terry stated. "The worst cases have already been here for a couple of days."

"We don't have the resources..."

"But I know who does!" Terry stated, heading outside and dragging Jayden in.

"What the hell?" The soldier called out. "Are you insane? You just infected..."

Terry grabbed his hood and ripped it off, before tearing off the decontamination suit.

"We've got the answer." Terry told him. "This is how confident I am."

"But...but..."

"We need labs, chemicals...we need manpower to get this produced in time." He told him. "Who has more resources than the military?"

He turned to Kevin.

"Get all your research compiled and ready to send to the military NOW! He told them. He then went back to the side of Serena's bed.

"Terry...where's the suit?" She asked him. He just smiled.

"We've got it thanks to you." He answered. She took his hand, smiling as she did so.

"This...feels better than the gloves." She told him. "You have nice hands."

"Um...thanks?" He replied. "If the patients can hang on a little longer, we'll have all the cure we'll need."

"Then I guess you better get to work keeping them going." She answered.

"She' ready to go back to the ward now." Terry told Jayden. "Send in someone to take her there. We all have work to do."

"Here, everything we have." Kevin stated, handing Terry a flash drive. Terry handed it to Jayden.

"You send this out." He instructed him. "As for you two, get out of those suits and onto the floor. I'm going to need all the help I can get keeping the patients going."

As she was taken from the room, Serena slumped to the bed, falling asleep. Terry couldn't help watching her being taken away. There was a part of him that wanted to know what she was trying to say to him, now more than ever, he was starting to think that she looked at him the way he hoped she would. He admired her bravery, she was the kind of person he wished he could have been all along, and the kind of person he wanted to be now. He only hoped that she thought he was at least part of the way there.


	7. The Pink Shogun

Mike managed to get back to the ship before the rest of the crew. It wasn't easy with his hands bound, but eventually he was far enough away to afford the time to cut himself free, again not an easy task the way he was bound. Running up the pier, he found Kevin on the deck, looking out for the rest of the crew and the Captain.

"I thought you were with the rest of the crew." He remarked. Mike just shook his head. "Then where were you?"

"Almost getting hung." Mike answered. He was about to step onto the gangplank, but thought better of it. After all, considering his seasickness, he wasn't keen on the idea of spending any more time on the ship than he really had to. The rest of the crew arrived back, singing raucously. They were carrying provisions and supplies, but given the way some of them were singing, they could only presume that they were arriving with less rum than they had left the market.

"Alright you rum-soaked scurvy dogs, get the supplies on board! We set sail as soon as the captain gets here!" Kevin called out. The crew filed past him, a few of them staggering so badly they almost fell of the gang plank. Mike just looked to him with an expression of disbelief as he came on last.

"Scurvy dogs?" Mike asked him.

"I've been through this story five times, bite me!" Kevin whispered to him. As he got onto the ship, he saw the Captain coming back. He pushed Mike aside as he stepped up to Kevin.

"Set sail, due south-east." The Captain stated, handing the map to Kevin. "This shows the limits of the journey. All we know is that it's off the edge of the map somewhere."

"Aye Captain." Kevin replied. Just then, a pigeon came flying across, landing on a railing. Captain Blaze approached it.

"Hey, check it out, it's my namesake." Mike remarked. The Captain just turned to him, looking at him a little judgementally.

"I believe you're not at your post Pigeon." He stated, pointing to the Crow's Nest. Mike just sighed and went to the rigging, beginning to climb up it, heading for the Crow's Nest at the top of the highest mast. Captain Blaze picked up the pigeon, and turned back to Kevin.

"I'll be in my cabin." He told him. "Call on me if you sight the Reaper. Other than that, I need some time to compile some notes. You have the helm."

"Aye Captain." Kevin replied, watching him go. He had seen this all five times. The Captain took a pigeon into the cabin, and wasn't seen again until the first encounter with Curtis, something he knew was coming soon. He had already checked and rechecked that the cannon had ammunition and powder ready since he knew that the first battle was coming. He looked over the deck as he stood by the wheel.

"Cast off. Raise the main sail!" He barked out to the crew. "Blue Temple, here we come!"

As the ship lurched and started to head away from the harbour, Mike hunched down into the Crow's Nest, clutching a bucket. It was bad enough when the ship was tied to the harbour and not moving particularly much, but now it was moving out into open water, his stomach started to churn and protest.

"I really hate you Kevin." Mike muttered under his breath. "When we get out of this, I am so kicking your ass."

Back in Terry's movie, he and his medical team were struggling to stabilize as many patients as they could, stalling for time until they got word back about the cure, but things were not looking good for some of the patients.

Terry was in a room with one of the patients, working hard with a crash cart, trying to resuscitate him.

"Clear!" He called out as he placed the defibrillator pads against the patient's chest. He shocked the patient, but failing to re-start his heart. It was no comfort that this was one of the extras, a man that was not one of his friends. He was not willing to accept any more failure, to accept any more death, not even a bit-part player.

As he handed the pads back to his assisting physician, he performed a couple of rescue breaths, and started chest compressions.

"Dr. Yoshida, it's time to..."

"NO!" Terry snapped at the other physician. "The cure is coming, all we need is more time, another hour, anything will do!" He protested, checking on the status of the charge as he continued to work. He didn't see a bit-part player in a movie, he saw a human, a man, someone with a family who would miss him, even if that family was fictional.

Antonio came running into the room, smiling as he came.

"It's here!" He announced. "The cure, the military..."

"Start unloading it and administer it throughout the building!" Terry ordered him.

"There are orders." Antonio told him. "All medical staff are to be treated first..."

"I don't have time yet!" Terry informed them. "Start distribution among the patients, the most serious cases first."

"Dr. Yoshida..."

"Damn it, I'm not losing another patient!" He implored them. He continued to work on the man on the bed, ignoring Jayden and Antonio as they tried to convince him otherwise. He smiled as, after another shock from the defibrillator, he managed to get the patient's heart started again. "This one first!"

"Dr..."

Terry didn't allow Antonio to protest, instead snatching a syringe from him and administering the treatment to the patient.

"Alright, there are a lot of patients to treat." Terry told them, grabbing a box full of prepared syringes. "Everyone who can hold a needle, take a box and get to work. Most serious cases first."

He stopped, by Emily's bed, checking her vitals. They were weak, but he was satisfied they would hold until the cure could act. After a while, he managed to get around all the other patients, he finally got to Serena's room. He couldn't help smiling as he approached her, taking a seat next to her. She was barely awake now, the virus having spread quickly through her body. Terry could feel some of the effects himself, but he put his own interest aside as he sat next to her. He caught her attention by taking her hand.

"Emily's condition is improving." He informed her. "She's going to be just fine."

"What about you?" She asked him. "You...you look..."

"Yeah, I'm infected." He informed her, showing her the syringe. "I'll be the last one."

He gave her the injection, before tossing the needle into a nearby sharp box. He looked to her, smiling.

"We did it." He informed her. "And we did it all because of you."

"I'm...glad I could help." She answered weakly. "Now, would you go and get treated?"

"There's just one thing, the movie hasn't ended yet." He reminded her.

"Yeah, probably because you're still infected." She stated. "I'll bet as soon as you get treated."

"Just wait here for me." He told her. She just laughed weakly.

"Yeah, that's going to be an issue." She said with a little smile. "You do know that even if the cure works, it's not going to be an instant fix right?"

"I'll be right back." He told her. He got up, and made his way out into the main area, where his colleagues were finishing up by treating themselves. He got a needle, finally treating himself for the virus.

"Alright, now all we need is for the credits to roll." He stated. He waited for something to happen, but nothing did. The movie didn't restart, and it didn't end. He looked around, trying to figure out what was wrong. He had done everything he was meant to. He had found the cure, he had administered it, and together with his team, he was sure he could keep all the patients alive until the cure would have completely run its course.

"That you did." He heard someone state. He turned around in time to see the patient he had resuscitated earlier standing a little way from him. Terry looked to the man in shock.

"How are you out of bed? You should still be laid up for hours!" He stated. He looked around, noticing that all the other patients had disappeared. Indeed, now he was completely alone with the patient. He was a little taller than him, Asian, and very well built. Terry watched as his clothing changed into a pink Samurai training uniform.

"You...you're the Pink Shogun!" Terry stammered. "You're the one that trapped me here!"

"And you'll stay trapped unless you prove you deserve my power." He replied, beginning to circle Terry.

Terry pulled off his long coat, and prepared to defend himself. The Pink Shogun moved quickly, far more quickly than he gave him credit for, and sent him tumbling over a bed, crashing to the floor.

"Wow, no wonder you were the second choice." The Pink Shogun taunted him. "I hope you enjoyed the movie, because something tells me you're going to be here quite some time."

Terry got back to his feet shakily. Unfortunately, the virus was still sapping his strength, meaning that a fight he was already sure would be an uphill struggle was looking pretty well impossible, but he knew he couldn't give up.

Just then, he saw the Pink Shogun staggered as Serena leapt onto his back.

"What...how? I got rid of all the characters!" The Pink Shogun stammered. Serena started trying to strangle him.

"I'm not a bit-part player." She told him. He threw her over his shoulder, dumping her on the floor. Terry could tell that just like him, the virus still weakened her. The Pink Shogun summoned up a dagger, lashing out at her, swiping across her ribcage, sending her tumbling back.

Terry rushed forward, sliding on the floor to catch her as she fell, and seeing a scalpel, picked it up, throwing it at the Pink Shogun. It sank into his chest, piercing his heart. The Pink Shogun looked to Terry, and smiled as though impressed.

"I suppose it takes more than strength to have power." He commented, sinking to his knees. "An oak will snap, where a palm will only sway. Wind is strongest against those that cannot adapt."

With that, he fell to the floor. The hospital began to fade, and Terry found himself with Serena in his arms, back at the Shiba House. The Pink Shogun was laying a little way off dead. After a moment, he disappeared, and Terry felt his full powers returning to him.

"Serena?" He asked her. "Serena, are you...?"

He checked her ribs, only to find that the knife wound was gone. She started to shift a little in his grasp.

"I...I don't feel sick." She commented. Looking around, she noticed that she was now at the Shiba House. She looked back to Terry. "You...you did it? You beat him?"

"Hey, don't sound so surprised." He answered, giving her a little smirk. "I know a thing or two."

Serena could only look at him, unable to say anything.

"Serena?" They heard Emily ask. "Terry?"

They looked up, seeing that Emily and Mia were standing a little way off, staring at them. Serena looked at the position they were in, and started to push away from Terry, moving off a little. She looked back to them.

"I fell." She told them. "Terry caught me."

"You finished your story?" Terry asked Emily. She just nodded.

"We finished about an hour ago." Emily told them.

"It wasn't hard to figure out. She was a princess being made to marry a prince against her will. When I saw that Mike was the stable-hand, it was obvious I was meant to get them together." Mia explained. "I have seen pretty much every princess and marriage movie ever made."

She then turned to Emily with her hands on her hips.

"I really would have preferred NOT to be cast as your serving maiden though." She stated a little darkly. "Seriously, that was NOT cool!"

"Hey, it wasn't as much fun for me as you think!" Emily muttered. "Do you think I liked having to have you dress me?"

"Alright, I'm sure the stories are fascinating, but I'm pretty wiped." Serena commented. "That spell is pretty draining."

"Yeah, it was for us too." Mia told them. "We still haven't been able to get the strength to enter the other stories."

"Then we'll need to rest up." Serena told them, getting up and heading for her room, only to stumble a little. Emily was right at her side to help her.

"I've got you." She stated. "Um...Mia, I'll get Serena..."

"Good idea." Serena agreed. "I'll be fine in a while."

With that, Emily helped Serena towards her room. Serena though, as exhausted as she was, couldn't even entertain the idea of sleeping. She couldn't find herself able to shut off her brain about everything that was going on. She had gotten to know a lot about Terry, and had spent a lot of time with him. He always seemed to find a way to surprise her, just when she thought she had him figured out. He also made her smile more often than she could remember since...

That was the problem though. Although she felt good about herself around Terry, she could remember the couple of times he had held her, she felt good, she felt warm, but on the inside, her stomach seemed to knot up painfully, and her brain assaulted her, giving her an incredible headache. Her heart would feel cold, and tightened, like it was protesting.

"Serena, are you sure you're alright?" Emily asked her. "You look a million miles away."

"I'll be fine." She insisted. "I just need to rest."

"You can tell me if there's anything else, you know that right?" She asked. Serena just forced a smile. How could she tell her? What was she meant to tell her? She had already resigned herself to the fact that whatever momentary lapses she'd had, her mind and her gut were already telling her that those moments were wrong. She was betraying the memory of the man she loved. She felt badly enough about it, the last thing she needed was anyone else knowing about it.

"When have I ever kept anything from you?" She asked. Emily just gave her a judgemental look. "Alright, that one time!"

"And it nearly cost you your life to illness." Emily reminded her. "Just...remember that we're here."

Serena kissed her forehead softly, and hugged her, before lying down.

"Now, I really am pretty tired." She reminded her. "Would you mind?"

Emily just left her, at which Serena turned over, pulling the blankets around herself, trying to shut herself off, hoping that somehow whatever this was would just go away.

Back in Kevin's movie, he was guiding the ship along its path. It had taken him a while to figure out how to steer a ship, but by now he was becoming an expert. The fact that he was always taking the same route helped him cheat a little though. He was sure that he was still a million miles from being able to become a real-life sea-captain.

He checked what was happening on the deck, keeping track of what everyone was doing. Eventually, he saw something small on the horizon. He already knew what was coming, but he knew that for the other characters to act appropriately, he had to play the scenario as it was meant to be.

"Pigeon!" He called up to the Crow's Nest. "Pigeon, there's something due east!"

Mike was still curled up in the Crow's nest, barely able to even think, let alone get up and look.

"Pigeon, due East, use your telescope!" He called out again. He just sighed as he remembered how hard this had to be for Mike. "If we want to get home, LOOK!"

Mike knew what he meant; this was just a little bit of the part he had to play. He struggled to look over the edge, and picked up the telescope. He looked out, focussing on the object in the distance.

"It's a ship!" He called out. He looked closer, seeing the name on the side. "It's the Reaper!"

"Curtis!" Kevin called out. "Bones, go to the cabin and alert the Captain, tell him the Reaper's been sighted."

"Shall we run out the guns?" One of the crewmen asked.

"Not yet, we can try to outrun it." Kevin told him. "It's still behind us..."

"Run the guns out anyway!" Captain Blaze instructed them as he sprinted up onto the helm. He looked out. "Pigeon get down here! We need all hands on deck!"

Mike just grumbled. It was bad enough asking him to even look out over the edge, never mind actually try and climb over it. Nausea gripped him, and he reluctantly flopped over the side, almost falling all the way, before catching some of the rigging. He got most of the way down, stopping about twenty feet from the deck; before his strength failed him and he fell to the deck.

"What the hell is the matter with you today Pigeon?" Captain Blaze screamed at him. "Get your lazy ass up and help raise the sails!"

Captain Blaze turned to Kevin.

"The Reaper is faster than us, and it has more firepower." He instructed him. "If we want to get out of this, we need to outwit them. Get on deck with the others and do exactly what I say."

"Aye sir." He replied, heading down to the deck, and running to Mike's side to help him. Mike just looked to him.

"So, this is the first encounter?" Mike asked him, still trying to shake off the fall.

"Yeah, but if we keep our heads, we'll get through it without suffering too much." Kevin told him. "I've done this before."

"So how bad is it?" Mike asked him.

"Pretty bad." Kevin told him. "You don't know who's playing Curtis yet."


	8. The Reaper and The Inferno

Ji still didn't know who's story he was in, or what he was meant to be doing. He knew only two things. Given the fact he had woken up in an office in a police station, wearing a suit, he was a ranking officer with the local police department, and the name plate on his desk confirmed it, also giving him his name. He was Commissioner William Lewis.

He had gone out onto the floor a few times, checking what people were working on, hoping that at least one of them would give him an idea what he was there, or who's story he was in. So far, all he had confirmed was that it wasn't any of the girls. Serena was a Sergeant, Emily was the girl who delivered his lunch, and Mia was his receptionist. All of them looked at him like he was barmy when he addressed them by their real names, then politely carried on with their part in the story.

He sat in his office, starting to get bored, waiting for his part to begin. Eventually, a man burst into his office. He snapped up as he saw it was Kevin.

"He's struck again." He blurted out. "The Skull has left another victim."

"Kevin?" Ji asked. Kevin just looked confused.

"Uh...sir, it's me, Donnelly." He reminded him. "Should...I send a report or...?"

"I'll go down to the scene myself." He stated. "I want to see what 'The Skull' has been up to."

He got up, taking a coat off the stand, and made his way to the door.

"You can drive." He ordered. Kevin just looked at him.

"Sir?" He asked.

"You know the way." Ji stated. "You can drive."

Back in Kevin's movie, Mike struggled to keep himself composed as he worked to help with the sails. The shape in the distance had been just a speck, but now it was noticeably a ship, and it was fast approaching, leaving him under no false impressions that Kevin was right, the first battle was coming soon.

He looked around to Kevin.

"Look, we've done everything we can, they keep gaining!" Mike snapped at him. "Who's the captain?"

Meanwhile, on The Reaper, Serrator snapped shut his telescope. He was wearing a British Navy uniform of the period, and a cutlass and brace of pistols hung from his belt. He looked back across the ship.

"We've nearly got them boys!" He called out. He looked to a deck-hand, here played by Octoroo. "Go and get the Captain! Tell him we're fast approaching!"

Octoroo ran...well...more kind of waddled, to the back of the ship, past the bustling deck of Nighlock sailors. He was bounced around a few times as they ran back and forth, working furiously with lines, and some heading below deck to man oars.

He got to the cabin and burst through the door, but quailed in fear as a pistol shot lodged in the beam next to his head, sending splinters flying.

"This better be good Gibbs." The Captain announced from the shadows.

"Sir, Lieutenant Wilson told me to tell you that The Inferno is in our sights!" He stammered in terror.

"Tell the men to prepare the guns." The Captain replied. "Come for me when we're ready for the first volley. Tell the Midshipman to prepare one of his little...surprises...for them."

"Sir, yes sir!" Octoroo replied, saluting frantically and scurrying away. The Captain reached for a golden goblet and took a sip of wine.

"Soon, you'll be hanging from my yardarm Blaze." He commented. "You can count on that."

Back in whatever story he had ended up in, Ji arrived at the crime scene. He came into the street, finding a body lying on the ground, with a sheet covering it. A cordon had been set up to keep the press away, and there were numerous officers milling around, looking for clues.

He came across to the corpse, looking down on it. Looking at the height and build, it looked to be a healthy, adult male. He reached for the sheet, and pulled it back, recoiling as he saw what lay beneath.

"Mike." He muttered, seeing the identity of the victim. He looked around, seeing that no one had seen this reaction, before replacing the sheet. He started looking around, hoping to catch sight of any indication of anyone else he knew. So far, he could write off Kevin, Mike and Emily as the architects of this story, since Kevin and Emily didn't know who he was, and Mike was a murder victim. Serena and Mia hadn't been trapped by the curse, so he already knew it wasn't them. That meant he still had Terry, Jayden and Antonio to consider as suspects.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked around, seeing a man in a white coat. It was Terry. He was wearing a badge, marking himself as forensics.

"Terry?" He asked. He shook his head and looked bemused.

"No, I'm Kenny." He said rather off-hand, like he was saying something that Ji ought to know. "It's the same MO as the others, poisoning, with a severe reaction..."

"The same MO as what?" Ji asked him. Terry...or...Kenny, just looked confused. "Pretend I don't know and take it back to the start. Tell me what's been happening. Maybe we missed something."

"There have been four deaths in the last four days." He informed him. "Poisoning, which caused convulsions so severe, the muscle spasms of the victims turned their bones into powder..."

"What?" Ji asked.

"Um...I think I should leave now." Kenny told him.

"Why?" Ji asked him.

"He's here." He replied. "He wants to talk."

Ji just followed Terry's hand as he pointed down a dark alley, but he could find nothing. He just looked back, preparing to ask, but Terry just disappeared. He decided to follow the only path he knew of, and headed into the alley.

It was deserted, and cut off. There was trash littered everywhere, and Ji had no idea what he was looking for, until he saw something on the ground. It was the size and shape of a credit card, and had a large GS embossed into it.

"You're later than usual Commissioner." He heard a deep voice behind him say. Ji just stood up, cocking his head. He had very sharp senses, his hearing included. No one should have been able to sneak up on him so easily. He swung around, only to find his blow blocked.

He continued to attack, ducking and diving around for a moment until both men spun away from each other, facing each other in a guard. Ji just looked to the man in front of him. He was dressed, head-to-foot, in blue and gold spandex, with golden boots and gloves. It was capped off with a cowl and hood, also gold, concealing most of his face.

"When did you learn...?"

"Antonio?" Ji asked. The masked man relaxed his stance and looked aghast. For a moment, Ji wondered if he was going to face another round, before...

"Ji?" He asked. "Is that...is that you?"

JI just rolled his eyes, before slapping Antonio upside the head. Antonio just rubbed his head as he groaned in annoyance.

"Alright, it's you." He grumbled. "How...?"

"How doesn't matter." Ji put down flatly. "You are trapped in a movie of your own design. The Shogun trapped you all until you could prove you were worthy of their power. You need to see your story through to a good end."

Ji looked him up and down, before scoffing.

"Really?" He asked.

"I like comic books alright?" Antonio whined. "Look, all I know is I'm the Golden Sentinel. I guard this city by night, and I'm after a serial killer called 'The Skull'."

"How much progress have you made?" Ji asked him. Antonio just shrugged.

"All I know is the last four times I've lived this story haven't worked out." He stated. "One time I thought I was close..."

"Where is your lair?" Ji asked him. Antonio just looked to him.

"What do you mean...?"

Ji just smacked him again.

"I'm not THAT old!" He stated. "Batman was first published in the forties. I am aware of the paradigm of the super-hero's secret lair."

"It's under the manor house on the cliff." Antonio said sheepishly, pointing to a mansion overlooking the city. He hated to admit that his fantasy was more than a little bit close to copyright infringement. "There's an opening half-way down the cliff on the east face."

"I'll be there in an hour." Ji assured him. "By the way...how do you get out of here unseen when you're wearing that? It is pretty conspicuous."

"You'd be surprised." Antonio chuckled. "I guess people in these stories are just chronically unobservant."

With that, he pulled out a grappling gun, and launched it, shooting up to the rooftops. Ji just sighed and shook his head, before heading back to his car.

In the Shiba House, Terry was sitting with his sister, as Emily paced back and forth by the door to her sister's room. All of them felt exhausted given the vast amounts of power that had raced through them between going into, and coming back from their cursed worlds. Terry couldn't help glancing at Serena's door as he took another drink of medicinal tea.

He didn't know what the hell was going on with her. He knew that he had turned her completely against him with his prank on Emily. Almost killing the Yellow Ranger with a chocolate peanut, he couldn't really blame her. It was only his medical knowledge, and the fact Serena knew she had an Epi-pen that saved Emily from suffering anything more serious than a terror-inducing, panic-ridden shock. She had left him under no false impressions how she felt about that, kneeing him in the nuts and warning him she would kill him if he did anything that stupid again.

His sister had been the one to explain it to him, to make him understand. Serena meant the world to Emily, and Emily was the heart of the team. If he was going to win the others over and become one of them, then he had to win over Serena, and prove that what happened was exactly what it had been, just a stupid, poorly-thought-out joke that went very wrong. His first attempt at reconciling with her had ended...well...less than brilliantly. He had found a DVD in her collection, and offered to have a movie night, just to get to know each other better. He still couldn't remember her hitting him, only waking up a moment or so later on the ground with a very sore jaw, and Mike and Emily explaining his mistake. He had managed to choose the film she had been watching with Stephen when he told her he loved her. He understood that she still had to be raw over his death. He knew that

During their time doing punishment drills together, he took a different tack. He stopped feeling sorry for her. It wasn't that he was unsympathetic, truly, he couldn't imagine anything worse than what she was going through. He had been within a hairs' breadth of losing his whole family over one stupid misunderstanding, and so he knew what it was like to risk losing those he loved. Actually knowing they were gone, that they would never come back, was another. However, he noticed something subtle about the way people were around Serena. They handled her with kid gloves. Even she hadn't seemed to notice apparently, but so far, nobody called her on some of her behaviour. She was occasionally thoughtless, selfish...sometimes she just presumed everyone else would rally around her, and for the most part they did. It was a good thing in some ways, she needed someone there for her. Unfortunately, it had another consequence. With no one to call her on her behaviour, she was only stewing in her own anger and hatred, something he would help her through the only way he knew how.

He knew he pissed her off. Indeed, he actively tried to, just to get her to let out some of her emotions. He was quickly beginning to lose count of the number of times she had threatened him with violence, but he had another tool in his arsenal. While he was behind her in training, he wasn't in conditioning. Running a little faster, doing his push-ups a little faster, doing his chin-ups a little faster...very quickly she was so much more focussed on beating him than she was with being angry, focussing all her rage into shoving his arrogance down his throat.

Then, somewhere along the lines, he couldn't tell where, something changed. She softened a little. Maybe she was just too exhausted to be angry with him anymore. Maybe she was just bored of the contest, but somewhere along the line, she actually talked to him like a human being, and not with that bestial snarl that would have made any Nighlock jealous. He could remember some of the times he laughed with her, some of the times he would just goof around and let up a little, and even though they earned themselves another couple of days' punishment, it ended up with a real change in the way they interacted.

The time he inadvertently barged in on her changing, he was mortified, and retreated, but unlike before, where he was sure that she would have put him in the hospital, she seemed to be just as embarrassed as he was.

Then, there was the times they touched. Not the times they were sparring, but other times. Twice now, he had found himself goofing around with her. One time, their sparring had ended up becoming a little too goofy and playful. He had ended up wrestling with her on the floor, pinning her down. She had been laughing and joking just like he was. Then, there was some silence between them. Before he knew what was happening though, they were aware that others were there, and she kicked him off her and accused him of copping a feel, before storming off, leaving him hurt, offended and confused.

The second time was only a few minutes ago. She had arrived back in the Shiba House in his arms. He could remember something about her, something about the way she looked at him, before she realised that Emily and Mia were there, before once again she kicked him away and pretty much fled as quickly as dignity would allow.

"She'll be fine." Mia assured him. He just looked to her.

"I'm sure she will." He answered her. "Now, maybe some more tea will put us back into this thing quicker? We're still missing a Gold, Blue and Red Ranger."

"Whatever you say." Mia answered, getting up. She rested a hand on his shoulder, before leaving.

Back in Kevin's dream, the crew of The Inferno were doing all they could to gain speed, but The Reaper was gaining fast. It was only a couple of hundred feet away when Mike came staggering up to the deck, carrying a canvas sack, which hung heavily over his shoulder.

"Alright lads, it looks like outrunning them is no longer an option!" Captain Blaze...or Jayden as they knew him...stated. "Prepare the guns!"

"WAIT!" Mike called out. Jayden and the others, Kevin included, all looked around at him.

"What is this? Are you a coward Mr. Pigeon?" Blaze spat. Mike shook his head.

"No, I just have an idea." He told them. He dumped the contents of the sack on the deck, showing them small cannon balls, linked by chain. "I found these below deck. They're Mast Breakers!"

"What?" Kevin asked. "How...?"

"I broke into that store your lot couldn't get into." Mike informed them. "It has some of the Enforcer's former arsenal."

"What else is there?" Blaze asked. Mike just shrugged.

"Just some rum." He replied, causing some excited looks from the crew. Blaze just looked around, picking up one of the shots.

"Alright lads, load these in and wait for the order to fire!" Blaze ordered.

On the Reaper, they were beginning to load up the cannon. Serrator stopped a crewman from loading a cannon ball and handed him a canister.

"Why cripple the ship when you can cripple the crew?" He asked evilly. "Load the grape shot. Aim at the deck!"

Back on the Inferno, Blaze, on the recommendation of his First Mate, had ordered most of his men into cover. Kevin had played this out enough times to know that the first volley would be grape shot, and that hiding was for the best. They had already loaded the cannon. As the two craft drifted alongside each other, the crew of The Reaper looked out.

"Cowering away are you Blaze?" A voice roared out. Kevin knew it sounded familiar. "Why, I heard you were fearless!"

"Fearless but not stupid!" Mike answered. "FIRE!"

The cannon roared, and chain-shot flew out, spinning through the air, tearing through several of the crew, and the masts. With a loud creak, the main masts of The Reaper started to fall.

More cannon roared, and marble-sized shot ripped through the deck, levelling many of the crew. Mike was grateful that he, Jayden and Kevin hadn't seemed to be hit, despite a hole the size of a soft-ball in the side a little way from his face. Captain Blaze just grabbed a splinter and pulled it out his leg, revealing it to be almost the length of a pen.

"Alright lads, they're dead in the water!" He roared. "Let's give them..."

Just then, the boarding party came. Hooks from The Reaper came flying across, and men started to swing over. Planks came down, and men in Navy uniforms poured over. Kevin heard a loud cry, at which Octoroo swung over on a rope, landing on top of him, and bearing him through the deck. Mike was kicked away as someone leapt aboard, rolling to his feet. He looked up and pulled out a cutlass.

"Serrator!" He spat.

"Who?" Serrator asked, confused since he was still playing his part. Mike just smiled.

"Just stay that way!" He responded, running to the attack. He locked swords with him, finding Serrator was far less powerful here than in the real world. He was an equal here. As he locked with him, struggling for position, he cast a look over to Blaze.

That left Captain Blaze. He could only stand, watching as his crew was assaulted. He turned as he heard a rope creaking, indicating someone swinging across. He pulled a pistol, as did the other man, and both levelled them at each others' heads, pulling the trigger, only to find them fizzing uselessly.

"I guess we both bought out powder from the same dealer in Tortuga." Blaze commented.

"I guess so." Curtis replied. He pulled off his hat and his wig, revealing his face as he drew his cutlass. It was Dekker. "I guess we have to do this the old fashioned way."

"I guess we do!" Blaze growled, drawing his cutlass.


	9. Spilt Milk

**A/N:** Sorry about the delay in this folks, I'm hoping to make up for it and get another chapter up soon.

Ji got to the top of the cliff, finding himself standing outside an ancient, gothic mansion made of dark, forbidding stone. He just chuckled as a flash of lightning lit up the area.

"I guess the rule of cool is in effect." He commented, looking up to see the sky overcast and dark, where moments before there hadn't been a cloud for miles. The storm had formed pretty well instantaneously to set the mood. "I guess his interpretation of the super hero mythos is more Ted Burton than Adam West."

He looked down the side of the cliff, seeing that it was a long way down, but seeing the ledge Antonio had told him about. He started the dangerous, and arduous climb down the side of the cliff.

Once he got to the ledge, he saw that the tunnel led inside. He pulled a torch out of his pocket to light the way, and started to make his way through. He arrived in the cave, far below the mansion, which was equipped with vast amounts of computer equipment. Antonio was standing by a console a little way off.

"Well, I have to commend the detail in your imagination, even if your concept seems somewhat borrowed." Ji remarked. Antonio just shrugged.

"I always loved Batman. He was always my favourite super hero." Antonio told him. "In fact, it was kind of my inspiration to keep going when my training to become a Samurai started to get tough."

"I suppose there are some similarities." He conceded. "So, to get out of here, we have to make a good ending to your story. So...what is your story?"

"Well, as you already know, I'm the Gold Sentinel." Antonio told him. "By day, I'm Armando Escalade..."

"Let me guess, millionaire playboy." Ji stated. Antonio just looked a bit sheepish.

"Well...it is my story, why shouldn't I be rich?" He asked him. "Anyway, my arch enemy is a serial killer called 'The Skull'. If I find him and defeat him, I imagine that'll probably end the story."

"So, why have you not managed that before now?" Ji asked him. Antonio just threw up his hands in frustration.

"I have, I've ran into him a few times, but each time, somehow the story just restarted." He explained. "There must be something I'm missing."

"Then perhaps we need to dig a little deeper." Ji answered. "You try and think about your previous battles, try to figure out where he's going to show up. Meanwhile, I will see if there's something we're missing."

"How are you going to do that?" Antonio asked him. Ji just smiled.

"I'm the Commissioner of the Police Department." He reminded him, pulling out a cell phone. "I'll just ask the office."

Meanwhile, in Kevin's story, Mike and the others were fighting ferociously with Curtis and his crew. The Nighlock that had stormed the ship were wearing naval uniforms, and it was clear that they were trained soldiers, but fortunately the pirate crew were not without skill. They had clearly seen some action.

He managed to get some room as Octoroo's cutlass got stuck into a support beam following a careless swing. Mike smirked as he saw this, taking the opportunity to strike his head from his shoulders.

"If only it was that easy in the real world." He commented. Here, it appeared that the Nighlock had no more power than ordinary humans, and could be disposed of just as simply. He made his way back onto the deck, finding Kevin trading blows with Serrator. He considered helping him, but he could see from here that Kevin was holding his own. Besides, he knew that Curtis was the main antagonist in this story. It was him they were trying to beat to the Blue Temple. If they defeated him here, now, then that would surely mean that the story would end.

Captain Blaze and Curtis, played by Jayden and Dekker respectively, were locked in deadly combat by the rear mast. Even in this place, it seemed Dekker was a deadly foe with a sword, and Jayden was struggling with him. He only just noticed him going for a flintlock pistol, and knocked it aside, sending the shot wide, causing it to lodge in the mast sending splinters flying.

"Is this how you fight now Curtis? With pistols?" Blaze taunted him. "Are you afraid to settle things with steel?"

"I fear nothing Blaze, least of all a common pirate!" He snarled as he renewed his struggle. Mike joined the fight, assisting Blaze. Curtis pulled out a main gauche, using it to help as he now found himself struggling against both Blaze and Mike.

Mike was about to press the advantage when his attention was diverted. A pigeon flew across his path. Blaze seemed to see it too, and moved between Mike and Curtis, ruining Mike's lunge.

Blaze let out a yell as Curtis stabbed him in the leg, but still managed to shove him over the side of the ship. Only the rigging on the side of The Reaper prevented him going straight into the ocean.

"The Captain!" Serrator called out, breaking off from Kevin, and swinging back to The Reaper. He reached over the side, hauling Curtis back onto the deck. The rest of the Nighlock army quickly fled to help him.

"Their masts are still down, if we run now, they won't be able to follow!" Kevin called out. "Captain?"

"I'll live!" Blaze assured him, picking up the pigeon. "Do as he says! There's no point risking more than we need to!"

"You heard the captain, raise the sails!" Kevin ordered, causing the ship to start moving off. The crew of the Reaper fired a few rounds from rifles, but it was far too little too late. Pretty soon, they were out of range, leaving the crippled Reaper far behind.

Mike saw Terry...Bones in this story, running into the captain's cabin, following the trail of blood left by Captain Blaze. Mike ran in after him, finding Blaze by his desk, stroking the pigeon. Bones was quickly by his side, inspecting his injury.

"Is there something I can help you with Pigeon?" Blaze asked him. Mike just looked to him.

"Uh...The Reaper is long behind us sir." Mike reported to him. "We took down the masts, so it should be hours before they can take up pursuit again."

"Well, I have to say Pigeon, that was a stroke of brilliance on your part." Blaze stated as Bones started to stitch up the wound on his leg. "The Reaper is far more heavily armed. If we couldn't outrun them, they'd have sunk us for sure."

"Why stand and fight a stronger opponent if there's an easier way?" Mike asked him.

"Return to your post Pigeon, we still have some way to go." He instructed him. Mike squinted a little as he saw that Blaze was writing something, but seeing Mike looking at it, he covered it up. "Is there anything else?"

"No sir." Mike responded. Blaze just waved him out, making sure he was out the door, before leaning over to Bones.

"He was trying to see what I was writing." Blaze stated. "I wasn't aware he could read."

"Neither was I." Bones answered.

"Keep an eye on him." Blaze stated. "We're too close to success to risk anything now."

"Aye sir." Bones answered, finishing up his work and cutting off the loose end of the thread, before heading out.

With that, he started to roll up the message he had been writing, and looking to the pigeon, drawing it closer to him.

Mike had left the cabin, and went up to the helm, where Kevin was tending the wheel. He was checking out the map, plotting the course ahead. They now had a couple of hours' grace before they had to worry about Curtis again, and he was determined to put it to as much use as possible. Mike just approached him.

"That was pretty slick Mike." Kevin complimented him.

"Thanks." Mike answered, but Kevin could already see that something was troubling him. Kevin just sighed. "What? We won?"

"Yeah, we got through that battle." Mike responded. "It's just...something isn't right with the Captain."

"What makes you say that?" Kevin asked him.

"I've noticed a pigeon hanging around...I think it might be a carrier pigeon." Mike informed him. Mike then looked to Kevin. "Also, when we were fighting, I had a clear shot at Curtis. I may be wrong, but...it seemed like he got in the way. Almost like...he didn't want me to finish off Curtis."

"Mike, it's a battle. Sometimes these things just happen." Kevin assured him. "It's Jayden..."

"Not in this story it's not." Mike reminded him. "Just remember, Emily tried to hang me earlier. In this story, the only ones we can count on are ourselves. Until we get to the final reel, we have to assume everyone else has their own agenda."

"That's probably a good idea." Kevin remarked. "But that just leaves the question. If Blaze DID save Curtis...?"

"Why did he do it?" Mike concluded. "I guess we just have to find that out for ourselves."

Out in the real world, Serena woke up, noticing that it was now dark outside. She hadn't meant to sleep for long; she only intended to have a short nap. However, it seemed that she was far more exhausted than she had thought. Checking her watch, she groaned as she realised it was now close to midnight.

Heading through to the kitchen, she went to the fridge, and opened it, getting out some milk. She presumed that by now, everyone else would be in bed, and she was now on her own. It was something she was beginning to feel more than a little used to as of late. It wasn't something she was used to. The house was crowded, and the Rangers were all pretty close, meaning that generally there was always someone to talk to. Unfortunately though, right now, she didn't feel like she could talk to anyone, not about this.

"Serena." He heard a voice behind her say. She shrieked, and jumped in surprise, dropping the milk on the floor, sending it everywhere.

"Um...sorry, I didn't mean to..." Terry stammered as he grabbed some kitchen towels. He offered them to her as she knelt down to start cleaning up.

"Thanks." She muttered as she took the kitchen towels. She was frantically trying to mop up the milk, and gather the pieces of the broken glass.

"Serena, are you...?"

"I'm fine Terry, it's not the first time I've cleaned up a spill!" She said snippily as she looked to him. "It's not a big...ah damn it!"

She looked to her hand, seeing blood running from a wound on her finger as she carelessly tried to pick up the pieces. Terry got down to her side.

"Please, let me..."

"Damn it all I can do it!" She protested. She grabbed some more kitchen towel and started trying to mop it up, becoming more and more distraught. Eventually, Terry just grabbed her hands as she succeeded only in spreading the milk out further and further, if anything making the whole thing worse. He could see a couple of tears starting to run down her face and drew her in softly.

"Serena, its only milk." He reminded her. She just shook her head and got up, walking away. Terry wanted to follow, but he knew he couldn't leave the kitchen as it was. He went to the cupboard, and found a dustpan and brush.

Back in Antonio's story, Ji got off the phone as Antonio checked a city map on the computer.

"The last few times, he's shown up at the Riverside Restaurant." Antonio informed him. "There's a fund-raising gala there tonight, some of the richest people in the city are..."

"Not all of them." Ji sighed. "There was a disturbance at the Mayor's residence earlier tonight. He's been reported missing."

"Missing?" Antonio asked him. "How did I miss...?"

"You were too busy looking for The Skull; you didn't stop to ask what he wants." Ji told him. "His victims have all been similar. All of them are wealthy, all of them are influential. The manager of the city bank, the congressman...he's aiming to throw the city into chaos by taking out the people who control the city."

"But...the Mayor was never at the gala any of the other times." Antonio remarked. "So..."

"Where is he?" Ji asked him. "I think that finding the Mayor is the key to getting out of here."

"What makes you think that?" Antonio asked him. Ji just pressed a button on his phone, pulling up a picture, before showing it to Antonio.

"Jayden?" He asked. Ji just smiled.

"I guess it's only natural you'd want to be his hero." He answered. Antonio just nodded in agreement.

"Fine, then let's find him." Antonio stated.

"Just as long as I don't have to wear...well...anything like that." Ji groaned as Antonio went back to work, trying to find possible sites of a hideout. If The Skull had Jayden, then Antonio was desperate to make sure he found him before anything happened to him.

Back in Kevin's story, aboard The Reaper, Curtis was surveying his crew as they got to work repairing the masts. It took all hands they had left, but every moment that passed was just more ground they lost on Blaze.

"We should be ready to sail again in about twenty minutes." Serrator, the midshipman informed Curtis. He just nodded in acknowledgement of the assessment.

"Damn that Blaze! I thought we had him!" Curtis snapped. "If he gets to that temple first, all this will be for nothing!"

"Sir..."

"We've come too far!" Curtis reminded him. "I volunteered to go and retrieve the amulet for a reason!"

"I know you did sir." Serrator replied. "We're all with you."

"If Blaze gets that amulet, then I'll never have its power for myself!" Curtis stated. "Immortality, can you imagine it? Eternal life! I would have all eternity to sail the world, to carve my legend across the planet!"

"Indeed sir." Serrator drawled. "Of course, as long as we get what we want..."

"What are trinkets and coins to someone who will live forever?" Curtis asked him. "As we agreed, once I get the amulet, the rest of the treasure is immaterial. You and the men can take all you need to live your lives in luxury."

He then looked over to where one of the sailors was bundling up some rope while they finished erecting the masts. His attention was drawn to the pigeon on the railing near him.

"What the hell is it with all these pigeons?" Curtis asked. "I swear, they're worse than rats! You there lad, get rid of it!"

"Aye aye sir." The crewman, played by Antonio answered. He turned back to the pigeon, ensuring his message was attached, before nudging it off the railing, sending it back to The Inferno.


	10. The Captain's Deal

Mike found that the time on the ship seemed to pass quickly, something of a blessing. There was always something to do, which meant that mercifully there was little time for him to worry too much about his seasickness, something that...he was quickly finding, wasn't quite so bad. He sometimes felt a little queasy, especially right after he had eaten, but other than that, he was becoming so used to it, he was starting to be able to function mostly at full capacity.

It was the rest of the journey that was the problem. Mike and Kevin had since resigned themselves to the fact that something was going on that they didn't know about, and that since the other characters, while some of them may have been played by people or Nighlock that they knew, were not them. Anything they knew about them was not necessarily true in the story, something that didn't bode well since they now suspected Captain Blaze of some form of duplicity.

For a captain, Kevin and Mike noticed that he didn't spend a whole lot of time at the helm. He would emerge to bark the occasional order, something of a redundant gesture since the crew seemed to know what they were doing for the most part, and he would get a report from Kevin on their progress, but other than that, he would spend all his time locked away in his quarters, seeming to spend all his time with charts and books.

Mike had also noticed something else odd. Bones, the ship's physician, played by Terry, was spending a lot more time around him. Any time Mike turned around he was there, trying his best to look nonchalant, but having seen him doing the same tasks again and again, he was quickly coming to the conclusion that Captain Blaze suspected something wasn't right about him, and had instructed Bones to keep an eye on him, something that was only going to make things harder. He couldn't do anything that would arouse suspicion, meaning that he could only check in with Kevin periodically. All he could do other than that was restrict himself to the stomach-churning torture device of the Crow's nest on look-out, occasionally reporting back to Kevin.

Eventually, he caught sight of something in the distance, and he smiled. It was exactly what they were looking for.

"Wow, even the locations are familiar." Mike commented. There weren't any recognisable buildings, but with the large, peaked cliffs, dominated by a central cliff that stood over the rest of the island like an ancient guardian, he recognised the island from one of their earlier missions. It was Manalua, the island that Serrator had held under a spell of terror in one of his schemes. It seemed odd to see it now, as it must once have been, before it had become a tourist trap. Largely unspoiled, with no real sign of life, all save for one. Pulling out his telescope, Mike Took a good, long look at the base of the central volcano, seeing a building, carved into the rock face. It was large, possibly a hundred feet in height, and the entrance was flanked by huge, stone statues depicting ancient beasts.

"Land Ho!" Mike called out, pointing towards it. "Land Ho!"

All the men on the deck ran to the side he was pointing to, and a huge roar went up from the men. Mike grabbed some rigging, and swung down to the deck. This descent was a lot smoother than his earlier effort, thanks largely to Mike's overwhelming desire to once more get his feet onto solid ground. He went to Kevin's side, smiling.

"So, Manalua eh?" He asked. Kevin just shrugged.

"Mia and I really liked it." He admitted. "We always wanted to go back. You know...when we weren't in a fight for our lives against Nighlock and everything."

"Well, at least YOU get to go back." Mike remarked. He gestured to Kevin as Captain Blaze came over, looking delighted.

"Well, you did a good job there Jack!" He complimented him, slapping Kevin on the back. "The Blue Temple as I live and breathe!"

"I told you I wouldn't let you down sir." Kevin told him.

"We're not out of the woods yet!" Mike commented as he pointed off the stern. He handed his telescope to Captain Blaze, letting him look through it.

"It's the Reaper!" Captain Blaze told his men.

"We still have a huge start." Kevin reminded him. "We should make landfall long before they get to us."

"Curtis wants that amulet as much as we do." Blaze reminded his men. "If we face his men on land, we can take the advantage of his superior ship away from him!"

He then looked to Kevin and smiled.

"Perhaps we can make our way out of here with two ships Jack." He suggested. "I'd need to take the flagship of course. But how would you feel about captaining The Inferno?"

"It would be an honour sir." Kevin replied. Captain Blaze just patted his shoulder.

"Well, let's not get too ahead of ourselves. We'll make our stand in the temple." He told his men. "Everyone to their posts! We're not done yet!"

Captain Blaze then left Kevin to man the bridge, heading back to his quarters. He closed the door behind him and locked it for privacy, turning to his desk. He grabbed some parchment and started to scribble out a note, before opening a cage, grabbing a pigeon. As he did so though, he noticed that some of his papers were out of order.

"Well, it seems you're not the only pigeon in here." He commented to the bird, pulling out a pistol. He looked around, before levelling it at a wardrobe.

"That's an antique lad. Don't make me put a hole in it." He warned him. Mike stepped out, revealing that he had indeed used the confusion of the situation to sneak in and have a look around. "Give me one good reason not to have you keel hauled lad."

"Perhaps because you wouldn't want to risk me talking to your men first." He informed him, holding up a letter. "I thought something was off the moment I saw you at that manor house."

"Ah, so the pirates the Governor's servants tried to hand was you." He stated in understanding. Mike just held up a letter.

"It seems odd a pirate having personal correspondence from a British Governor." He remarked. "Of course, according to this, you don't plan on being a pirate for long."

"I could always just end you here boy." He reminded him.

"You could do that." Mike answered. "Or Jack and I can help you get what we all want."

"Jack?" He asked.

"You can trust me, and you can trust him." Mike assured him. "If I really wanted to betray you, I could do it right now, but I think there's a way we can all get something out of this."

"Then you'd best go and get Jack." He stated with a smile. "I have a feeling we have things to discuss."

Meanwhile, in Antonio's story, he and Ji were still working in his lair, trying to find a way to locate 'The Skull's' lair. He knew that in only a few hours, he would attack the Gala event at the restaurant. If things went as he remembered, the only conclusion would be that the story would re-start once again. Knowing now that Jayden was in the story, and was a captive of The Skull, he had surmised that the secret was to rescue him.

He stared at the map one more time, seeing the markers indicating The Skull's crimes.

"He hit the general at the National guard base." He told himself, bringing up the marker. "Then he hit the DA at his apartment."

He brought up another marker, a few miles to the west of it. Ji turned and inspected it.

"There were another half dozen crimes on the dock-yards." He reminded him. "And the gala would be right in the middle of this stretch..."

"Oh for God's sake, I am so stupid!" Antonio stated, suddenly getting a grin on his face. He grabbed a marker pen, and started to draw a line all around the marked areas. Ji finally realised what he was seeing.

"It's..."

"A skull." Antonio concluded. "The DA and the General, the most important ones so far are the eyes, the rest make up the teeth."

"The most important crimes so far have been the eyes." Ji concluded. "So he must be reserving the most important crime for..."

"The nose!" Antonio concluded, marking an X in the middle of the skull. "Got to love how predictable these super villains are. I just wish Xandred and his cronies really were this predictable."

Ji pulled up a three dimensional hologram of the city, overlaying the skull pattern. Right where the centre was, where the nose would be, they saw the tallest building in the city.

"The observatory at Panorama Tower!" Antonio told him. "It's always got to be the highest point in the city."

"I'll mobilise the police force." Ji instructed him. "I doubt The Skull will be alone."

"Knowing these stories, the place is likely booby trapped." Antonio told him. "You need to get everyone, SWAT, bomb disposal, everyone! Make your way into the building, but only when you know it's safe!"

"And where are you going?" Ji asked as he ran aside. Antonio pressed a remote and lit up a gold light, showing a jet, shaped roughly like a Manta Ray.

"I'm taking the high road." He told him, leaping into the jet and starting up the engine. Ji just sighed and headed for a staircase leading up, presumably to the mansion.

"I never thought it would be possible for him to get any more clichéd." Ji grumbled. "I suppose he won't mind me borrowing a car to get back into town."

In the real world, morning had broken, and now Serena, Mia, Emily and Terry had fully rested. During the night, Serena had contacted some friends to rustle up some more cine projectors. Right now, only Kevin's Jayden's and Ji's movies were running. Serena was incredibly quiet, and doing all she could to stay aside, keeping out of the way. Terry knew that something was up with her, but he couldn't fathom what it was. Right now however, he had to concentrate on the movies at hand.

"Well, Mike's character is seasick in Kevin's movie." Emily pointed out. "So, he's helping Kevin out..."

"Antonio...trust you to be a super-hero even in your own fantasies." Mia giggled. "Since the Chief of Police is in the bat...wait, wouldn't that be the Gold Cave? The Gold Mine..."

"We can worry about the details later." Terry told her. "The point is, his character is acting out of sorts with the premise of the movie, so we can probably assume that's Ji."

"So that means only Jayden's in his movie alone." Emily remarked. She looked to that projector's screen, watching the movie. "So, he's the one we need to help."

"When the others come home, they'll need some help." Mia reminded them. "Besides, we've all been out of action for the better part of a day. I think its best that we leave some of us here."

"I'm the only one that can't morph." Serena reminded them. "I think it's best if I go and help Jayden."

"Are you sure...?"

"I'm the one that'll affect the team the least by not being here." Serena cut Terry off. She did want to help her friends, she did want to get them back, but there was something else about her eagerness to volunteer. She already knew that her difficulties centred around Terry. She had resigned herself to the fact that it was going to be difficult, but the best thing she could do was to stay away from him as much as she could. It would be the best for her, for him...it would be the best thing. Sooner or later, whatever was broken in her brain would forget about this whole thing, and everyone could get back to normal. She already knew that Mia's wrist wouldn't take much longer to heal, maybe a week or two. If she could make it that long, then it was likely Terry would be going home. That would make things so much easier. Once he was out of the picture, she was sure she would manage to forget all about him and get back to normal.

"Alright, then it's settled." Mia concluded. It had never been formal, but with Kevin, Jayden and Ji all out of commission, they needed someone to take charge. Mia sometimes fulfilled that role, and since Serena seemed to be having some kind of inexplicable personal meltdown, Terry was the rookie and Emily was always more comfortable letting someone else take the lead, it didn't leave many options. She had been used to being something of a mommy to the group most of the time anyway. "This time, both of you cast the gateway symbol. That way, you won't end up quite so wiped out."

"Alright, I'm ready." Serena told them. Emily pulled out her Samuraizer, preparing to use it on her sister, but looked to Terry as he seemed to be lost in a world of his own. She just nudged him.

"Today would be good." Emily suggested. Terry just pulled out his Samuraizer, and prepared for his part in the spell. They powered them up, and cast the symbol, sending it spinning into the projector. With a quick look back, Serena ran and jumped into the gateway, which disappeared after her.

"Alright, now all we can do is wait." Mia remarked, giving Emily a little look. "Which kind of gives us an opportunity to have a little chat baby brother!"

"What?" Terry asked her. "I...um...what?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, my sister's kind of turning into a basket case around you!" Emily told him. "What the hell is going on?"

"There's nothing...I...but...I..." He started to stammer. Looking at the way Mia and Emily were looking at him, he just gave up. "How the hell should I know?"

"Because around you the last few days Serena's been all over the place!" Emily told him.

"Exactly, what makes you think I know what's going on in her head? She's your sister!" He protested. "Seriously, one minute we're having a laugh together, the next minute she's shoving me away! One minute she's all friendly and everything, the next she's either braining me or can't get out the house fast enough!"

"Terry..."

"I don't know alright?" He put down flatly. "Now, if the Nighlock come knocking, I have my Samuraizer on me. Otherwise, I'd really like some space."

With that, he got up and stormed out of the room. Mia and Emily just looked at each other, unable to comprehend what had happened.

Back in Kevin's movie, Captain Blaze and his crew had docked on a beach a little way from the temple, and made their way there on foot. Arriving at the temple, they could only marvel at the enormous gateway.

"God, it's carved right into the mountain!" Mike remarked. "It must have taken centuries!"

"It's quite something alright." Bones stated, coming out, carrying some gold coins and gems, presenting them to the captain. "Just a handful of this stuff would be enough for all of us to buy our own kingdom!"

"This is it lads, the score Captain Blaze always promised us!" One of the other pirates called out. "Hip hip..."

"Huzah!" They all called out. Jayden just smiled.

"Alright lads, there's plenty of time for that." He told them. "You're welcome to take all the treasure we can carry once this is over, but until then, everyone inside! Curtis won't be far behind!"

"Bring the guns!" Kevin ordered, gesturing the men inside. Mike and Kevin looked to the Captain.

"Remember the deal. We find the amulet, and I take it while the men deal with Curtis." He reminded them. "Once Curtis is seen to and I get what I want..."

"Right, we got it." Mike told him. Blaze cast off his messenger pigeon.

"Right, now let's find that amulet." He stated.

Meanwhile, on the beach, Curtis and his crew were coming ashore. The Nighlock all prepared their weapons.

"The trail ahead is so easy to follow." Curtis stated. "Perhaps too easy. Is it possible that Blaze finally wants to face me like a man?"

"I would doubt it sir." Antonio answered, looking to his captain. "Who would ever want to cross swords with Captain Horatio Curtis, finest man in Her Majesty's..."

Just then, he heard a shot ring out. Looked around, seeing the Midshipman, played by Serrator, holding a smoking rifle. Looking to where he was aiming, he saw a pigeon on the beach, dead.

"What is the meaning of this Mr Finn?" Curtis demanded angrily. "You just gave away our position!"

"I have a feeling that Blaze would have known where we were soon anyway." He drawled casually as a Mooger picked up the pigeon and brought it to him. He took the message from it and read it. "I kept seeing pigeons, and started to suspect we had a rat on board."

Curtis took the message and read it.

"Blaze!" He roared in fury.

"It seems he got to one of your men." Serrator told him as some of the Moogers seized Antonio. He struggled to get free, but they were too strong. Curtis approached him, reading the note.

"Well, it seems that you and Blaze have been quite the pen pals." He stated, pulling out his rapier. "Now, the only question is, what to do with our little stool pigeon?"


	11. The Eye of the Archangel

Mike, Kevin and Jayden were frantically searching through the temple, hoping beyond all hope to find the amulet before Curtis could. While they didn't know much about him, all they knew was that Curtis planned to use the amulet to become immortal, and in his previous attempts to get the amulet, Kevin's movie had ended in a failure. Clearly they were meant to stop him.

The treasure was immense, jewels the size of softballs, glittering, expertly crafted gold and silver items varying from cups and plates, through to jewellery...there was more here than even the entire crew of the ship was likely to spend in a dozen lifetimes. None of it mattered though; all that mattered was that one piece, the Eye of the Archangel. Once they had that, whatever the crew did with the rest of the treasure was immaterial.

"Do we even know what this thing looks like?" Kevin called out. Mike just paused as he realised something. He had a point. There were many amulets in this room, many more in each of the side chambers. Any one of them could be what they were looking for, and they could have just thrown it aside without even knowing it.

"It should be distinctive, it's a magical artefact!" Captain Blaze told them. "It makes a man immortal! Don't you think it'd be guarded by at least...you know...a LOCKED door?"

"Or maybe they'd hide it in plain sight!" Mike stated, making his way to a statue. It was Apollo, the ancient God of the Sun. He went over to it, inspecting it closely, realising that it was wearing an amulet, it wasn't just a part of the statue, it was a separate piece. He took it off, looking at it. It was a golden chain with a large, diamond hanging from it. He looked to Blaze.

"Here, how about this?" He asked. Blaze took the amulet, and put it on, but he just shook his head.

"No, it's nothing." Blaze stated. "It might be a pretty piece, but it's no..."

Just then, they heard some shots ring out. Mike and Kevin just looked to each other, before looking to Blaze.

"They're here!" Mike called out.

"We'll go and help the others." Kevin stated, taking out his cutlass and his flintlock.

"But..."

"Pigeon, the Captain knows what he's looking for!" Kevin told him, being sure to use his character's name for emphasis. "We have to believe that. He's been on this quest far longer than us."

"Go!" Captain Blaze assured them. "I'll catch up!"

With that, Mike and Kevin ran out, back to the main chamber. They found their men, all huddled down into hiding spots, covering the man hall. Curtis and his Nighlock crew were storming in, under a hail of fire. Coins and debris flew in all directions, and a couple of fighters fell on either side as they desperately fought for position. Eventually though, the Nighlock side ceased firing. Curtis stood up, holding up a hand.

"Blaze!" He roared. "Blaze, are you here you coward?"

"He's a little busy right now." Kevin answered. "However, anything you can say to him, you can say in front of all of us!"

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day Blaze would let his own men take all the casualties instead of fighting himself!" Curtis answered. "Although there's someone here that may just make him change his mind."

With that, he clicked his fingers. Serrator came in, roughly shoving Antonio forward. They could see that he had been roughly stripped of his uniform, signifying a dishonourable discharge, and that he had been badly beaten. His hands were bound together in front of his body.

Mike started to search through his bag, searching out something. Kevin just looked at him curiously.

"Just keep him talking." Mike whispered.

"Who's that?" One of the other pirates called out. "Why would we care about...?"

"He's an inside man." Kevin informed them. "He's been sending the captain messages from The Reaper. He's the reason we've been able to stay one step ahead of Curtis all this time."

Mike just looked to him, a little surprised as he heard him say this. He had told the crew that all his men that their Captain had been in contact with The Reaper all along. It was somewhat of a risky move. If his men thought that their Captain had betrayed them, then it was possible they would either scatter, seeking to preserve their own lives, or that they would perhaps even turn on him. Some of the men started to look around each other uneasily.

"What are you doing?" Mike whispered. Kevin just shrugged.

"Something new." He whispered in response. He then looked to the other men.

"He's been keeping us ahead of Curtis now for weeks! We all know The Reaper is a far more powerful ship." He reminded them. "If it wasn't for him, we'd probably all be hanging from a yard-arm or feeding sharks. He's risked his life for us...!"

"Sir." One of the pirates interrupted him. He just took a deep breath, before smiling. "I say that makes him one of us. He made his choice."

"Well? Have you told Blaze we have his...?"

"I'm afraid not." Kevin answered. He then saw that Mike had finished with his bag, producing a grenadola. Kevin just smiled.

"Another gift from The Inferno's previous owners." Mike informed him.

"Now, if you tell Blaze..."

"I'm telling Blaze nothing!" Kevin called out. "That man is one of us; he made his choice when he betrayed you. Every man that follows a pirate knows what that choice means!"

"Then he is of no use to us!" Serrator answered, drawing a pistol. However, Mike had lit the grenadola and thrown it into the middle of the room. Curtis saw the explosive and threw himself to the floor.

"Everybody down!" He screamed. The bomb went off, filling the room with blue smoke, and scattering debris, coins and jewels all around. Mike, Kevin and the other pirates used the confusion to charge. The British Navy were always equipped with superior guns, closing the distance would mean that advantage would be lost. Mike closed in, seeing Serrator struggling to get to his feet, his uniform shredded, and his flesh torn. He could see a subtle glint of gold from some coins lodged in his ribcage.

He kicked Serrator back, standing between him and Antonio, satisfying himself that he was still alive. Mike dropped a dagger by him.

"This is going to be satisfying." Mike stated, levelling a cutlass at Serrator. The grinning Nighlock just drew his own sword.

"Be careful what you wish for lad." He stated. "I've been taught to fence by Captain Curtis himself! I am one of the finest..."

"I think you'll be surprised." Mike said with a little smirk as he came for him, swinging his sword in practiced arcs, before launching to the attack.

In all the chaos though, no one noticed that Curtis had been thrown clear. Getting to his feet, he saw that everyone was already locked in combat. Seeing this, he made his choice, and ran deeper into the temple. Blaze already had a head start on him. If he didn't move quickly, then all would be lost, and Blaze would have the power for himself.

Over in Antonio's story, the Mayor, played by Jayden, woke up, finding himself tied to a chair. He tried to call out, but he had been gagged, meaning that he couldn't make anything more than a small, muffled grunt. He heard some laughter from nearby.

"Well, I was beginning to wonder if perhaps I had used a little too much sedative your honour." He heard a voice stating. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. A figure was walking about in the shadows not far from him. He could make him out if he moved, but other than that, he couldn't see him properly. "I'm pleased to have you in my home."

A henchman stepped into view, pulling off the gag. The Mayor just looked to the shadows.

"It's you isn't it?" He demanded. "The one the police are looking for, it's you!"

"Ah, yes, you are quite astute." He chuckled. "Yes, I am the one all those fools are looking for. Scurrying around, always so far behind they can't possibly see anything beyond their tiny little insignificant worlds."

"You...said you brought me to your home." The Mayor responded groggily. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. Seeing the huge telescope in the middle of the room, he looked back to the figure in the shadows. "The observatory?"

"Yes, this is my inner sanctum." He informed the Mayor. "This is where it all ends tonight."

"It all...?" He asked. "You wanted to kill me all along?"

The figure just laughed, a laugh which echoed around the room ominously.

"It's always the same with you people isn't it? You're really so self-absorbed that you believe everything is about you." He stated. He heard sirens blaring, coming closer. One of the henchmen approached.

"The cops are on the way." He informed The Skull. The villain just waved him off.

"You and the others keep them at bay." He ordered him. "Leave us."

As the henchmen all left, The Skull approached, stepping into the light. The Mayor saw he was wearing some form of white armour, with long, sweeping spikes coming from the shoulders. Across his back, a long, curved sword was strapped. The Mayor could see his face, and squinted.

"Who...who are you?" He asked.

"I might have known you wouldn't know me, but soon everyone will know me. I will perform the greatest assassination in History, the death of The Gold Sentinel."

"You...you did all this, killed all those people, just to kill the Gold Sentinel?" The Mayor asked him. The Skull just nodded.

"He is taking longer than I'd have thought though. I'd almost started to wonder if I've been too clever for him to follow." He said arrogantly, picking up a red helmet, modelled after a skull, which gave him his namesake. "I had thought I might need something more public, but the fact your police force is attempting to assault my hideout, I would say that he should be here soon."

Just then, there was an explosion, and a section of the roof came falling in. Antonio, in his full uniform, came flying in, landing in a forward roll a little way off. He looked around, seeing The Skull standing, waiting for him.

"Are you alright sir?" He asked the Mayor.

"He didn't harm me." He assured the Gold Sentinel. "He only took me to bring you here."

Antonio looked to The Skull, getting a look at his face. He smirked as he saw it.

"I might have known it'd be Dekker." He commented. The Skull placed on his helmet as he drew his sword.

"I've been preparing for this day for some time Gold Sentinel." He commented. He pressed a button, which activated a device placed under the Mayor's chair. "You now have five minutes to defeat me, and save the man you..."

Antonio surged forward, pulling out a tanto, drawing it from its golden scabbard and slashing at The Skull, knocking aside his sword, before scoring a slight cut across his shoulder. He just smiled.

"So what do you want me to do with the other four and a half minutes?" He asked. The Skull just bellowed a savage cry as he rushed back to the attack.

Back in Jayden's story, Captain Blaze was still searching the treasure room for the amulet. So far, he had found a few, but none of them was the Eye of the Archangel. He could hear the battle outside, and knew that he was buying this time with men's lives. He owed it to them all to accomplish his mission.

He got to another statue wearing an amulet. This one was of Diana, the Goddess of the moon. She was wearing an amulet that bore an amber jewel. He got closer, and inspected it, noticing something odd about it. On the stone, there was a tiny engraving of a sun.

He pulled out the other amulet, seeing that there was a similar engraving, this one of a moon on the diamond. He took the amber amulet off Diana's neck, and replaced it with the diamond one. He heard a loud grinding of gears as he did.

"I hope this works." He stated, rushing to the Apollo statue, placing the amber amulet around its neck. Some grinding of gears later, a large panel on the wall between the two statues slid open, revealing a hidden room. He made his way inside, finding the room dominated by a large statue, depicting St Michael. He too was wearing an amulet, but this one was different. It had a blazing red stone in its centre, which lit the room with an unnatural glow. Captain Blaze made his way over, heading up to the statue. It was then that he heard a click, turning to see Curtis behind him.

"Thanks so much for finding it for me." He said in a drawl. "It'll save me the effort."

"I might have known it'd end this way." Blaze stated, drawing his sword. "Let's see this end the way we both want it to."

Curtis threw aside the pistol and drew his own sword, at which both men started to circle each other. Blaze was the first to make a move, beginning the battle that would decide both their fates.

In the main room, Mike struggled with Serrator, finally finding a gap in his defences and scoring a deep wound across his abdomen. Serrator collapsed to his knees, clutching at the wound and trying to stop himself bleeding to death. He looked up to Mike with pleading eyes, but the Green Ranger had no pity for him. Even though he knew this was a pale imitation, a character in a story, he could only see all the evil Serrator had done all the lives he had destroyed. He raised his cutlass behind his shoulder.

"I know Serena would have preferred to do this, but I guess I get the pleasure." He commented. "This is for Stephen!" Serrator just looked confused.

"Who's...?" He never got to finish as Mike delivered the death blow. He looked around, seeing that Antonio had freed himself with the dagger he had dropped.

"We have to help the Captain!" Antonio stated, with a hint of desperation in his voice. Mike just nodded, picking up Serrator's sword and handing it to him.

They both ran through the corridors, following the sounds of swords clashing. They got to the secret chamber, finding Curtis and Blaze locked in desperate battle. Blaze was reduced to fighting one-handed, having received a grievous wound to his left arm, which hung uselessly at his side. Mike ran in, blocking Curtis' strike as he was about to run him through.

"You again!" He roared. "What do I have to do to be rid of you?"

He threw Mike aside, at which Antonio rushed over, placing himself between Curtis and Blaze. Curtis just looked to him in disgust.

"I suppose it's no surprise you have no loyalty to your..."

"You have no loyalty to the King!" Antonio called out. "We all know you only want the Eye for yourself!"

"Of course, why serve a king who sends his men to die so that HE gets richer?" Curtis asked him. "When I have the Eye, I will be indestructible. I will be able to conquer all!"

"Do you ever shut up?" He heard Kevin's voice saying from the door. He was holding a flintlock pistol, HIS flintlock pistol. He suddenly remembered he had thrown it away when he started his duel with Blaze. He just laughed.

"So this is what it takes for you to best me Blaze? Four men and a gun?" He taunted him. "Go ahead, take your shot."

"Do it." Blaze ordered. Kevin nodded, and fired his shot, which hit the amulet, shattering the stone. The pieces rained down on the floor and stopped glowing. Curtis screamed out.

"You fools!" He screamed. "Why?"

"Because that was the deal." He heard another voice say. Ji...playing the Governor, entered. He looked to Blaze. "My men got your message. We've taken the beach, and the temple."

"What?" Curtis asked. "But...but..."

"It's over Curtis." Blaze stated, being helped to his feet by Antonio. "Now, everyone will know what you are. You'll be hanging from the gallows by sundown."

Blaze and his small party all went to the beach, finding both Curtis' crew, and his own on the beach, surrounded by the Governor's men, all tied up and awaiting transport. Blaze looked to the Governor as Curtis was taken aboard his ship.

"The Eye is destroyed, and Curtis is captured, just as I promised." He told him. "Now, what about my part of the deal?"

"Men, release Captain Blaze's crew." He ordered. He handed a handful of letters to Blaze. "A full pardon for each of your men."

He then handed a letter to Antonio's character.

"You are hereby released from your commission." He told him. "You all may follow your own path. I suggest you choose wisely."

With that, he got on his ship, together with his regiment. They set sail, leaving only The Inferno behind for them. Blaze looked to his First Mate, Kevin.

"Thank You." He stated. "I suppose..."

"We understand." Mike told him. "We figured it out."

"The Governor hired you as a Privateer." Kevin surmised. "He knew that Curtis was looking for the Eye, and he suspected he would use it to create an empire for himself. A man guilty of treason who could never be defeated was too much of a threat to the King, so as the only man to evade him, he knew Blaze would have the best chance to beat him to it."

"When you told him about Nathaniel, and how he was press-ganged, he knew he had something to offer you." Mike commented. "Freedom for the two of you, and the rest of us in exchange for destroying the Eye, and ensuring it never fell into anyone's hands."

"All I cared about was getting Nathaniel back." Blaze stated, taking off his hat. "But I couldn't do it alone, and I couldn't betray these men for my own ends. The Governor was reluctant, but he agreed in the end."

He then took Kevin's hat off his head, and replaced it with his own.

"Leave us a long-boat." He instructed him. "It's high time The Inferno had a new captain."

"Sir...?"

"I can't tell you what to do, but we've all been given a free pass." Blaze reminded him. "I for one intend to use it as a clean slate."

"The ship won't be the same without you sir." Kevin answered, looking to his men. "Any who want to sail with me, say aye!"

The rest of the crew all cheered. Kevin smiled and looked back to Blaze as they all started to board.

"So, what will you do?" He asked. Antonio took out a diamond, which was easily the size of a tennis ball.

"I figured this should give us a good start." He told him. "I hear the rum business is good in this area. Maybe we'll start a plantation. I always wanted to be a farmer."

"The rest of the treasure is yours." Blaze informed him as he and Antonio went to the longboat. He put an arm around him as they pushed off, starting to row away. "I have a feeling I have everything I need right here."

As Kevin watched them start to row away, he and Mike just smiled.

"Well, I think that's a pretty good ending." Mike commented. "Blaze is happy with his new life, and you...you get to be a captain!"

Just then, Kevin saw the ship and the rest of the crew disappear. He and Mike drew their swords and started to look around.

"Alright, I guess now is when we talk to my Ancestor." Kevin surmised. They looked around, and finally saw what they were looking for, a large, Asian man, wearing full Samurai armour, walking towards them across the ocean. He finally set foot on land.

"So, we have an uninvited guest." He remarked. "The Green Samurai? You defeated...?"

"You'd be amazed what we can do when we put our minds to it." Kevin answered. "Now, are we going to fight or what?"


	12. The Gold Sentinel

In his story, Antonio continued his battle against "The Skull." He was quickly finding that despite his early success, that despite not having his true abilities in this world, Dekker apparently wasn't much less deadly than he was in the real world. As he spun away, seeing that the stroke he had narrowly avoided had taken a substantial portion of his cape with it, he could only breathe a sigh of relief that it wasn't his head.

"You...you're pretty good." Antonio conceded. The Skull just laughed.

"I'm the best." He stated. "I've dedicated years of my life to becoming the best. Now the only thing I need to ensure everyone will remember my name for all time is to take down The Gold Sentinel."

"A lot of people have tried." Antonio answered, beginning to circle him. He took a quick glance in the Mayor's direction, seeing that the bomb under his feet was still counting down. The timer reached three minutes, letting Antonio know that he didn't have long left. He looked back to his opponent, just in time as The Skull sought to take advantage of his brief distraction. Antonio parried the swipe, only just stopping himself being cut in half by The Skull's nodachi, and rolled away, turning only in time to see him draw an automatic pistol, firing a couple of rounds. Antonio ducked behind the telescope for cover.

He checked the timer again, seeing its merciless, steady progress. Every second he spent on the battle meant that he was closer to having to begin his story yet again. He could hear The Skull pacing.

"It won't be long now." The Skull reminded him. "You can't hide forever. Not if you want to save him."

Antonio breathed a huge sigh, trying to think about what to do. The gun changed things. It seemed that in this story, Dekker had no aversion to using ranged attacks. He had his tanto, but he needed to close the distance. How though?

"How can I even get close?" He asked. "Damn it, I've read every Batman comic there is, what...?"

It was then that he got a thought.

"Gadgets!" He rushed out as he started to search through the compartments in his belt. "What's a superhero without a few gadgets?"

"Two minutes Sentinel!" The Skull stated as he fired off a round, which rebounded off the steel a little way from Antonio's head. "I can keep this up all day!"

"Well let's see you keep that up when you're dealing with..." He threw some pellets at him, hoping for something to blind him, but instead they splintered on the ground into caltrops. The Skull just stared at them, confused, while Antonio's jaw hung low.

"Oh crap!" He called out, rushing back into cover as The Skull opened fire again. Antonio started to rummage through his belt again.

"Why the hell did I never label these things?" He asked himself. "Oh, right, because I'm meant to know what..."

He pulled out a canister, looking at the label.

"Shark repellent?" He shrieked, tossing it aside. He had a variety of pellets and bombs, but none of them were labelled. Continuing to run, he discarded anything that was patently useless, wondering why the hell the Golden Sentinel would feel he needed python anti-venom or acid neutraliser. He ducked as he broke cover and The Skull opened fire again.

"Screw it!" Antonio called out; throwing all the pellets and bombs he had in The Skull's direction. They all burst into life, with terrifying effect, throwing Antonio back, and landing with a painful yell. Several coloured smoke clouds, flashes and loud bangs filled the room. Metal caltrops were thrown in all directions too.

Antonio groaned in pain as he rolled around on the ground.

"Are you alright?" The Mayor asked him.

"I sat on my caltrops!" Antonio moaned. He looked up in time to see The Skull staggering, blinded and disorientated by the effects of all the pellets. Seeing him staggering towards the hole in the wall, Antonio was tempted to just let him fall, but he thought better of it.

"Batman wouldn't just LET someone die." He stated. "Neither will the Golden Sentinel."

He sprinted towards him, cursing loudly with every step as caltrops drove themselves painfully into his feet. He dived and slid across the floor, just as The Skull fell out the hole, catching his hand.

"Now, this is interesting." The Skull stated. "What can you do now?"

"It's over Skull." Antonio told him. "I've got you beat..."

"And you still can't save the mayor." He reminded him. "Unless you drop me of course, but then, you'll never do that. After all, if you drop me, if you murder a defeated, helpless opponent, then you'll be just as bad as me."

Antonio paused as he considered this. He was right. He couldn't save the mayor AND pull The Skull up. If he pulled his opponent back up, he would just fight him again. Looking to the timer, he saw he had sixty seconds left.

He didn't know the rules, but since his story was so much like Batman, he could only presume that the rules were similar. He couldn't murder someone, it was so antithetical to his moral code that the story would surely end in failure, and he would have to do this all over again. If the mayor died, he would have to do this all again. It looked hopeless, until he saw his tanto a little way off and got an idea.

"Time to think less Batman and more Judge Dredd." He stated, reaching for it. He picked it up, pulling The Skull up high enough that his hand was on the floor. Then, raising up the tanto, he drove it down, straight through his hand, pinning it to the floor and causing him to scream in agony.

"You'll live." Antonio said rather unsympathetically. He ran back over to the mayor, hopping and jumping, cursing the stabbing pain from all the caltrops as he came to his side, inspecting the bomb.

"Quick, deactivate it!" The mayor screamed. "There's only twenty seconds left!"

"Please, don't rush me!" Antonio protested. "I haven't done this before."

"What are you talking about? You disarmed that nuke The Squid was going to use on the city a week ago!" The mayor, played by Jayden reminded him. Antonio just muttered under his breath. The Shogun had cursed him to be in this story, did they not think it would at least be only fair to give him the knowledge he needed? Knowledge his character would have?

Looking to the bomb, seeing it pass ten seconds, he took another approach, taking out a small blade from his belt, and cut the ropes tying the mayor to the chair, and hoping that the bomb didn't have a pressure switch. He pulled him off the chair, but he heard the mechanical click of a gun. The Skull must have pulled himself back up.

The Skull had indeed done so, and was holding the gun on him. He started to laugh. Antonio looked to the timer, seeing it hit ten seconds.

"After all that, I still get to be the one..."

"Thanks." Antonio said with a smirk. The Skull just screwed up his face in confusion.

"Thanks?" He asked. "For what?"

"A hero can't kill someone or allow someone to die..." He stated, turning sharply and three the chair and the bomb straight at him, knocking him out the building. "...unless they're directly threatening lives."

He heard the bomb detonate outside, and breathed a sigh of relief. He got up, and started to walk towards Jayden.

"Thank you Golden Sentinel, you have no idea..." His words were cut off as Antonio kissed him passionately. The mayor just looked to him, completely stunned. Antonio couldn't help himself. His relief that Jayden was safe had overwhelmed him.

"I...I..."

"I didn't know you were gay." The mayor stammered. "No one knows I am."

"Your honour, I'm sorry..."

"Look, I'm flattered, but...I'm with someone." He told him. "I kept it out of the papers. People in this state aren't too liberal, I'd never have gotten elected if they knew."

The mayor looked to him.

"I'm really flattered, but I love Richard." He told him. Antonio just paused. This was one part of the story that was a pleasant surprise. He had lived it enough to know one thing. The Golden Sentinel's secret identity. He reached up, pulling off his mask.

"Richard?" The mayor asked. He just nodded.

"I've been meaning to tell you..."

However, before he could finish, Jayden vanished. He looked around, seeing the Grand Shogun standing behind him.

"Well, you got to the end of your story." He said with a slight note of surprise in his voice.

"So...what happens now?" Antonio asked him.

"Well, for the others, this is when they face their ancestor, but that presents us with a slight problem in your case." He commented. "You see...you're the first of your line. You don't have a shogun ancestor to face."

"So...are you telling me we fight now?" Antonio asked him. The Grand Shogun just laughed and shook his head.

"No, I don't think so." He told him. "However, you do puzzle me. You are the first of your line; you taught yourself our abilities...I've never known anyone who was able to do that."

"Thanks?" Antonio offered weakly. The Grand Shogun looked him up and down.

"You puzzle me, but I have to admit, you impress me too." He informed him. "I think I'm going to offer you a gift."

With a wave of his hand, Antonio was bathed in a bright, golden light. When he looked down, he was no longer in his Golden Sentinel uniform, but in a bulkier, heavier form of his Mega Mode armour. Reaching up to his head, he felt the shape of his helmet. He looked to The Grand Shogun.

"I...I have Shogun Mode now?" He asked. The Grand Shogun just nodded.

"It seems fitting for the first generation of the Light Samurai." He answered. With that, Antonio vanished, appearing in the Shiba House in his civilian mode with Ji. Mia and Emily just looked to them, delighted to see them back.

"Antonio!" Emily called out, running over to hug them both. "You made it!"

"Yeah, thanks to a little guidance." He said, looking over to Ji. He gave them a huge grin. "I got a little gift into the bargain too."

He pulled out his Samuraizer, which was glowing. He showed them all a new symbol on it, depicting the new addition to his arsenal.

"I've got Shogun Mode!" He announced proudly. Ji noticed his Samuraizer was also glowing. Pulling it out, he smiled.

"It appears I do too." He told them. "Is there any news on...?"

Just then, Kevin and Mike appeared in the Living Room, over the unconscious form of a large man in blue Samurai armour. The Blue Shogun vanished, leaving them behind. Mia immediately threw herself at her fiancé, kissing him passionately.

"You made it!" She screamed, hugging him with a passionately tight hug that seemed like she was afraid to let go in case he disappeared again.

"I...can't...breathe!" Kevin croaked out. "Mike, help..."

"After you shoved me in the crow's nest for the whole story? Forget it!" Mike grumbled, crossing his arms defiantly. "I haven't kept down a whole meal the whole story!"

"You were sailing?" Emily giggled, hugging him. "Oh my poor, brave Forest Samurai."

"Well, things are looking up for the good guys." Mia stated, finding herself finally able to let go of Kevin. "We all got out."

"Yeah, we totally showed those Shogun who's boss!" Mike stated excitedly.

"Yeah, but now we just have one minor problem." Kevin told them. "Jayden's still in there."

They all looked to the last projector, which was still running. Antonio looked to them.

"I want to go in." He told them.

"Antonio..."

"I want to help!" Antonio reiterated a little more forcefully.

"Serena's already in there." Emily assured him.

"The team's already been out of action for nearly two days." Mia reminded him. "It can't have gone unnoticed all this time. There's probably going to be a Nighlock attack before long."

"Everyone who can morph is out here." Ji concluded.

"But..."

"It is natural you want to help, but Serena is in there." Ji assured the Gold Ranger, placing a hand on his shoulder. "For now, all you can do is trust that she can help him."

Antonio just nodded, reluctantly agreeing, before heading to his bedroom. They could all empathise with his position. All of them felt helpless, powerless to do anything other than wait to see whether or not Serena could help Jayden through the story that he obviously hadn't managed to get through until now. Kevin looked to the others.

"Where's Terry?" Kevin asked. "We took some pretty mean shots."

"He's...uh...not here." Emily told them. Kevin and Mike just looked at each other, before looking back to him.

"Not here?" Kevin asked incredulously. "Well, where is he then?"

"He kind of stormed off." Mia admitted. "It's sort of my fault. Emily and I were..."

"It will be fine; I shall tend your wounds." Ji assured them. "The benefit of being the Commissioner in Antonio's story was that I didn't have to do too much myself. I was spared any major battles."

"Right, then." Kevin sighed, before looking to Mia. "I know he's your brother, but this is completely irresponsible running off when we're in a situation like this. I'll want to have a word or two with him about responsibility!"

With that, they left the room. Mia just rolled her eyes and held her head in her hands.

"When will I learn?" She groaned. "Terry's never been good with talking about anything real. Now, he's going to have to hear one of Mr. Serious' lectures!"

"Mia?" Emily giggled, hearing that. She just threw a pillow at her.

"He's my fiancé, that doesn't mean I'm completely blind to all his annoying habits." She protested. "God, all I wanted was a straight answer. What is it with those two?"

"Serena's being just as elusive." Emily told her. "I keep trying to talk to her, but she never says anything. I've never seen her like this."

"Why couldn't I have been an only child?" Mia grumbled as she got up to head to the kitchen. "I'm in the mood for some cheering up. Fancy some ice..."

She was almost sent flying by a little yellow blur heading for the kitchen.

"...cream?" She concluded, getting a little grin on her face. "Scratch that. Why couldn't I have had a little sister instead of a brother?"

Serena awoke, finding herself in a featureless room, sitting down. She tried to move, but was unable to, her arms being firmly held in place by steel restraints. She blinked a few times to clear her vision, which was still a little blurry from the harsh, white light shining in her face.

"Now, here's the problem we have." She heard a familiar voice stating. She struggled to see, but even in silhouette form, the shape of the head was unmistakable. It was Dayu, pacing back and forward, with a distinctive clicking sound. As she came closer, Serena could see she was wearing a military uniform of some kind. She grabbed Serena's face and yanked it to force her to look up at her. "We've been at this for hours, and yet still you refuse to tell us why you're here."

"I wish I knew." Serena answered, earning herself a back-handed slap. She looked down, seeing that she was wearing a green, sleeveless t-shirt, and camouflage trousers, with military style boots. Dayu showed her an ID, showing her picture, and the name she must have in this story, Eva Cage.

"We know your name, but not why a United States Intelligence agent would be so far from home." She told her. "You are aware of course that personnel caught behind enemy lines without military identification are considered spies. Legally, we can do whatever we want to you."

Serena just looked to the man at the bench behind her, seeing him looking through tools that looked a little like medical tools, but she sincerely doubted they were intended to help anyone.

"So, why don't we try this again?" Dayu asked her. "Who sent you? Why are you here?"

Serena couldn't answer, even if she wanted to. She had just been dropped in the story here, with no idea what she was doing. Dayu just snorted.

"Americans! You're always so quick to stick their noses where they aren't wanted." Dayu ranted. "Well, you have no right to complain when you get those noses broken then do you?"

She turned to her accomplice, played by Octoroo, and gestured him to begin. Serena started to struggle to no avail as he approached her with a pair of what looked like pliers.

Just then, they heard some gunfire in the hall outside. A moment later, the door came flying in, and a figure wearing black came storming inside. He shot Octoroo, sending him tumbling to the ground dead. Dayu kicked his gun away, but the stranger caught her in a powerful arm-lock. She struggled.

"You...you wouldn't hit a..."

Her words were cut off by a hard elbow to the jaw, knocking her out cold. The man pulled off his hood, revealing his face.

"I'm all about equal opportunities." Jayden told her. He searched her, taking the keys for Serena's restraints. "The name's Steele, Nicholas Steele, MI6. I'm here to rescue you."

"Thanks Jayden." Serena stated as she was finally released. Jayden grabbed her arm as she started to get up.

"What did you call me?" He asked. "Serena?"

"Yeah, this time it's me." She assured him. "Now, you know how to get out of here, I don't. I'll explain once we get somewhere safe."

"Alright." Jayden told her, picking up the MP5 Dayu had kicked out of his hands. He handed it to her, before pulling out an automatic pistol. "Follow me."

"Like I have a choice." Serena said sarcastically as he left the room.


	13. The Name's Steel, Nicholas Steele

Serena followed Jayden as he made his way along the corridor. Although her father had taught her how to use a shotgun, she still wasn't entirely comfortable with how to work an automatic weapon like the SMG Jayden had given her. All things considered, she would be happier with Kasamune in her hands, even if it still refused to give up the last of its secrets.

She hunkered down behind him as he took cover behind some chemical tanks in the complex. It looked to be underground given that there were no windows of any description, and much of the complex seemed like a cross between a factory and a laboratory. Jayden gestured her in closer.

"Right, I've been through this story eight times, so I know this is one of the few areas that aren't patrolled regularly." He informed her. "Right, as you already know..."

"You're James Bond and I'm your bimbo!" She groaned, shoving him roughly. "Seriously Jayden?"

"Hey, I didn't choose this..."

"Actually, you kind of did." Serena informed him. "The Shogun cursed you all, put you inside these movies. You'll keep replaying them until you get to a good ending."

"Right, I kind of thought..."

"The stories are made from YOUR imagination!" Serena interrupted him. "Seriously, you're James Bond?"

"My name's Nicholas Steele actually." He corrected her. "But yes, I'm an agent with Her Majesty's Secret Service."

"So, what are you here for?" She asked him.

"I'm here to stop Big X from taking over the world." He informed her. Serena's eyebrows shot up.

"Big X?" She asked, a little sceptically. Jayden just started to turn pink.

"I guess my imagination isn't what it could be." He told her. "Ji was always a big Bond fan; we watched all the movies together when I was growing up, so I guess I kind of made this one up in my head."

"Right, so what is 'Big X's' plan?" She asked.

"He's manufacturing a virus weapon." He informed her. "He kidnapped the world's leading authority in viruses to combine influenza with the Ebola virus to create a new, airborne version of Ebola."

"Oh, God." Serena replied, more as kind of an exasperated groan than any form of shock. It was a terrible thing to think about, such a weapon being created, but it was something else that caught her. They had kidnapped a doctor to create the virus. It seemed even here life wasn't playing fair. Why did things have to keep throwing him in her face.

"We need to rescue the doctor, take out Big X, and destroy the virus." He informed her. "Right now, we're in Big X's main lair, the plant where he's manufacturing Serrator."

"Serrator?" She asked him.

"It's the codename of his biological weapon." Jayden assured her. "We're in the plant, right now we have to plant these explosives on the tanks, and the main power generator over there."

He handed her a bag, containing some charges, and pointed to the power generator. Serena just looked at him.

"How do you know all this?" She asked him. He just smiled.

"It's my eighth time through this story." He reminded her. "My handler gave me most of the information; your character gave me the rest. I just need to find the right way to accomplish this."

"You mean...?"

"We're in the final reel." Jayden answered, cocking his pistol. Serena just sighed and glared at him. "What? They do it all the time in the movies."

"You do realise you just wasted a cartridge right?" She asked him. "If the gun's already cocked, cocking it again just ejects the bullet in the chamber."

"Well, it looks dramatic." Jayden told her. "Besides, when do heroes ever have to reload?"

With that, he ran off. Serena just rolled her eyes.

"Why me?" She muttered, before heading off in the other direction to begin planting charges.

In the forest, a little way from the Shiba House, Terry was sitting by a camp fire he had lit, strumming away on his acoustic guitar. He had taken it with him when he stormed out of the house when Emily and Mia were grilling him about Serena; it was just one of the things that helped him think.

He had never been good at being peaceful or quiet. While Mia had enjoyed music, he was always deeply immersed in it, finding it hard to concentrate without it at times. Whenever he had something to think about, something he really needed to focus on, he would always find it easier to do it with a guitar in his hands.

He couldn't shake from his mind the incident with Emily and Mia. They had cornered him, ambushed him, and basically grilled him intently about what was going on with Serena. He had taken the whole thing rather badly. He couldn't help finding the way they approached things slightly accusatory, almost like they thought he had done something to her. The fact was that he was a little used to people thinking of him as the bad guy. The first time he had met the Rangers, Emily had beaten him savagely, believing him to be a monster that had turned his back on his sister. Ji had threatened his life if he harmed her. Hell, even his own parents were barely speaking to him, having since accepted his apology and his explanation surrounding things, but it wasn't the same. He never expected things to be how they were; he knew that would be impossible. Things had gone too far, things had been said that couldn't be taken back, but he was always hopeful to redeem himself, not only in the eyes of others, but also in his own eyes. He was used to being the bad guy, and he was used to people thinking badly of him, but there was one thing about it he couldn't help. It still hurt.

It always hurt, no matter how long it had been and how friendly people had been around him. He had done everything he could think of to be accepted by the others. He had helped Antonio with his music, he had goofed around with Mike, he had done everything. However, despite how much they said they accepted him, despite how friendly they had been, the moment something was amiss, they came to him to ask questions.

He didn't know what was wrong with Serena. It baffled him just as much as it did them. He thought he had finally turned a corner with her, and by extension the team. She had been the one that had given him the hardest time, thanks in no small part to the peanut incident, but he had gone all out to show her what he was really made of. He had shown her things about himself he had never shown anyone. He had even gotten to a point that far from wanting to kill him, he could see her smiling, and hear her laughing. The way it seemed to affect her, and even the others, it seemed like it had been a long time since she had done either.

Recently though, things had started to happen that he didn't fully understand. She would be with him, just talking, just laughing, but suddenly freeze up. She was no longer leaving him lying with her superior training, or even threatening him as she had done at one time on what seemed like an hourly basis. She would just freeze up, stare at him, perhaps even shove him away, and leave without a word.

As he paused to take a sip of water, he heard someone approaching. He gently placed the guitar down as he reached for his bag, pretending to look for a snack. He was miles from the city, and it wasn't anywhere near any of the common hiking or mountaineering routes. He listened a little longer, hearing the footsteps getting closer, and he knew instinctively that they were coming for him.

He spun around, summoning up his Spin Sword, only to see Ji standing before him. He managed to pull the blow, the keen edge of his Spin Sword coming to merely tough the side of Ji's neck. The old mentor didn't even flinch, apparently confident enough in Terry's skill not to block.

"I guess I'm out of practice." He commented. "I guess Kanoi is right. Sneaking does get harder once one gets to a certain age."

"Ji, what are you doing here?" Terry asked him, removing the sword from his neck, and willing it back into the ether. "Other than giving me a cardiac stress test."

"Your team mates are all fine." Ji said as he stepped forward, gesturing to the log. "Do you mind if I sit?"

Terry just shook his head. Ji came across, taking a seat with him.

"Was that a new song?" He asked. Terry just shrugged. He wasn't really one for writing stuff down. Although he was a gifted guitar player, and he COULD read music, he tended to play more by feel and by ear. He also didn't really write things. The most creative thing he would do was, on occasion, just play freely, just play whatever seemed to come naturally. Sometimes it bore fruit, other times it didn't. However, it was just something he did to let out his creative side. Generally someone else wrote the music for him, but every now and then, he would come up with something.

"I was just messing around." He stated. Ji just nodded in understanding.

"Sometimes that is how great works are created." He told him. He got up, summoning his own Spin Sword. Terry just looked at him as he adopted a guard, before starting to swing it in a routine. He marvelled at the fluidity of his movements, the precision of his form. As he finished off, he stood to attention, before looking to Terry.

"I've...I've never seen that before." Terry stated. "I know I'm not an..."

"No one has." Ji informed him. "It is a kata of my own invention. To the best of my knowledge, no one else knows it."

"You mean...?"

"I cannot say categorically that no one ever watched when I performed it, but I have never taught it to anyone, not even to Jayden." Ji concluded. "It is my own creation. It was something that just...came to me."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not wanting to talk about a kata?" Terry asked him nervously. Ji just sat back down.

"I was inspired to create that, I was inspired by something that happened to me long ago." Ji explained. "I was inspired by a young woman named Miko."

"O...kay...gotta go!" Terry said, starting to get up. Ji grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back down, but smiled to show that he meant no harm. He just wanted Terry to listen.

"It may have been a long time since I was your age, but believe me; I remember all too well what it was like." Ji stated. "The others are concerned about Serena..."

"And you think I'm not?" Terry asked him. Ji just shook his head.

"I think exactly the opposite." Ji told him. "I think perhaps you care more than you are willing to admit."

Terry just started to grab his stuff, at which Ji grabbed his wrist.

"Please, just listen." He told him. "I would understand..."

"Serena's a good person; I'd NEVER do anything to hurt her!" Terry snapped. "Sure, I've pissed her off a few times, I've even done it deliberately a few times, but I don't want her..."

"No, I do not believe you do want her to hurt." Ji agreed. "I did not want Miko to hurt either. That is why, when I found out she was in love with another man, I fought my natural instinct to harm him, and instead learned to let her go. She and her husband are now two of my very best friends."

"Let her..." Terry started to say. "You think...?"

"As I said, I was not always old." Ji assured him. "Serena is an amazing young woman..."

"OK, I think I've heard about enough." Terry stated, starting to gather his things. "Thanks for the heart-to-heart, but seriously, maybe you need to re-read those tea-leaves..."

"What were you thinking about when you were composing that music?" Ji asked him. Terry just paused. Ji just stood up.

"I do not doubt you have no intentions of harming her." Ji sighed. "I simply ask you remain mindful of what she has had to endure over the last year." Terry found his temper starting to flare. Now, not only was Ji accusing him of putting moves on her, he was accusing him of taking advantage of her? He balled up his fists and felt adrenaline coursing through him.

"Ji I..." As he spun around, finding the forest behind him empty. He hadn't seen or heard any movement. Looking around, he still couldn't see any movement, no matter how far he looked. He just sat back down, picking up his guitar. "So much for not being able to sneak around anymore!"

With that, he started to strum the strings, trying to get his thoughts in order. What did Ji know anyway? He was just an old hypocrite that couldn't even follow his own rules, something his pregnant girlfriend could attest to. What right did he have to lecture anyone, least of all him, someone who only had Serena's best interests at heart?

Back in Jayden's story, Serena managed to finish planting her explosives, finding herself now by a sign, which indicated that she was near the labs. She looked around, hoping for some signs of Jayden, but couldn't find any. Although she knew that she should wait, something inside her drove her onward.

Bursting into the lab, she found several Moogers, all wearing lab coats, working at various work stations, preparing chemicals and working on charts. They all turned to see her.

She opened fire, spraying the room with bullets. One person ducked down low, hiding under a bench, but the rest were all quickly riddled with bullets. Broken glass crunched underfoot as she ran towards the last lab worker. She levelled the gun, at which the man cowered away from her.

"Don't hurt me, please!" He screamed. She just looked to him and saw that he was human. More than that, he was a very familiar human. It was Terry. "Please don't hurt me, I'll do anything...!"

"Eva Cage, American Intelligence." She introduced herself. "I'm here to rescue you."

"But..."

"Look, I know about Serrator." She informed him. "Please, trust me, we need to get out, this place is going sky high in minutes..."

"You don't understand, there's a backup!" He informed her. "If that isn't destroyed, then all this is for nothing!"

"That's why this story's been playing over and over again!" She gasped. She looked to the doctor and grabbed his coat. "Do you know where...?"

"It's in Big X's control room." He informed her. "He takes me there at times for progress reports. I can take you there."

"Right, let's go then!" She told him. As she turned though, she saw Dayu standing in the doorway.

"So, you're here." She stated. Serena levelled the gun at her, but it just clicked uselessly. Pulling out the cartridge, she looked into it, seeing it was empty.

"Heroes never run out of bullets unless..." She just threw the gun aside. "Stupid bloody movie conventions!"

"So, you want to finish this the old-fashioned way hmmm?" Dayu asked, pulling out her radio ear piece, preparing a guard. "I think I can arrange that."


	14. Shogun Red Shogun

**A/N: **Hoping to have another chapter to this up tomorrow (no promises), but just to say that I'll be on hiatus for about a week while I attend a certain con. Hope you all enjoy it, and I promise to be back once I'm home.

Dayu was staggered as Serena caught her with a powerful roundhouse kick. In here, she didn't have the power she normally did, and she seemed to be taken by surprise by Serena's skill. She surmised that her character probably didn't have the level of training she did, meaning that she had the advantage. She grabbed her, throwing her over a work bench, smashing a number of flasks and beakers as she went.

Serena rounded the bench, finding Dayu struggling back to her feet. She was about to attack when Dayu grabbed Terry, her arm around his neck, and pulled out a knife, pressing it against his throat.

"One more move and I open his throat!" She warned Serena. She froze to the spot, unable to think of what to do now. This Terry wasn't a Samurai; he was a character in a movie. He had no idea how to release himself from this situation. The real Terry, she imagined, would already have put Dayu on her backside. This one, however, just stood, whimpering in terror as she threatened his life.

"Think about this, without him..."

"Ah, you see that's where you'd be wrong." Dayu interrupted her, gripping Terry tighter. "We have all his research backed up. Killing him will only delay production."

Serena couldn't speak. She couldn't even think. In her mind, all she could do was size up the situation. There was no way she could cross the room and tackle Dayu before she could slice Terry's throat. She had no weapons, she had no way of distracting her...she had no options. Dayu had him completely at her mercy. Tears started to run down her face as memories came to her about Stephen. While she hadn't been there when he died, her friends had, in time, told her all about how it had happened. History was about to repeat itself if she didn't surrender. She couldn't watch him die, she just couldn't.

"Please...please don't." She said weakly. Dayu just laughed in response.

"That's it? You're begging me now?" She asked Serena condescendingly. "You and your partner never had a chance against..."

Her words were cut off as a silenced round penetrated her skull. Dayu fell away, leaving Terry standing, quaking in fear. Instinctively, he ran to Serena, throwing his arms around her. She stood, unable to do anything but return the gesture. Eventually, her attention was caught as Jayden coughed.

"Serena, gunfire tends to draw attention." He told her as he picked up a gun, handing it to her. "The alarm's been sounded; we have to get out of here!"

"Um..." Serena managed to say, taking the assault rifle. She couldn't gather any form of coherent thoughts; she could only stare at Terry, finding herself relieved that he had been saved. She hadn't thought about the attention she would bring, the noise she would make by unloading an SMG into the lab. All she could think about was getting Terry out of there. "S...s...sorry."

"Well, at least you saved the doctor." Jayden told her. "I couldn't even find him! I've been spending the last four runs trying to..."

Jayden's words tailed off as he noticed the tears in her eyes, and running down her face. He pulled closer to her.

"Is this...about Stephen?" He asked her sympathetically. Serena didn't know how to answer. It was partly about Stephen. The situation did bring back the memory of the night she lost him, but it was more than that. Jayden just nodded in understanding.

"I guess it is a bit hard to remind yourself that the others come back if the movie re-sets itself." Jayden stated. Serena just stood, staring. She hadn't even thought about that. She hadn't even considered attempting to rescue Dayu herself. She couldn't bring herself to move and risk Dayu killing him. She was terrified to take the chance. Jayden then looked to Terry, who seemed too terrified to even register what they were saying.

"Come on." Jayden told them. "This way!"

He led them out of the lab, under heavy fire of Big X's guards. He pressed a button on his watch, at which some of the charges started to go off.

"We've got about five minutes until the base goes up." He told them. "The exit's this..."

He stopped still as he saw someone standing before him, barring their way. It was Xandred, wearing a white suit, and carrying a sword. Jayden just gestured Terry and Serena down another path.

"There's an exit that way." He told them. "The military should be on their way."

"But..."

"Just go!" Jayden told her. "Remember, if he doesn't make it, this is all for nothing. You have to get him out of here."

Serena just nodded, before running away, escorting Terry with her. Xandred faced Jayden, beginning to circle him.

"So Mr. Steele, it seems that you've foiled my plans!" He stated. "You can rest assured; it will be the last time."

"Yeah, I've heard this all before." Jayden told him, pulling out a spectacle case. He pressed a button on it, at which a telescopic blade shot out of it, giving him a katana. He threw the pistol aside. "We've only got five minutes, what say we step up the pace a little?"

With that, both men ran at each other, their swords ringing out as they clashed.

Elsewhere, Serena was busy, taking out mooger guards blocking their way with her assault rifle as she escorted Terry up some stairs. She noticed that this time though, she never seemed to run out of ammo. Indeed, on her current clip, she had fired somewhere in the region of three hundred rounds.

"Now, this is more like it." She stated as she grabbed Terry's coat, running up the final flight of stairs. She got to the door, finding it locked. She couldn't get it to budge, no matter how hard she kicked it.

"Well, let's see if this works!" She commented, opening fire at the lock. Soon, the door swung open, and she found herself outside. She grabbed Terry and ran with him, but stopped as she saw more Moogers, all pointing weapons their way.

"Oh shit!" She exclaimed. They were all carrying assault rifles. At this range, she couldn't even rely on the stereotypical poor marksmanship of most movie henchmen. She felt Terry clutching her.

"Please...do something." He pleaded with her. Serena just closed her eyes, waiting for the shots to ring out, which they soon did. She found to her surprise though that she wasn't hit, not even once. Feeling Terry's hand on her arm, she started to feel up it, just to make sure he was still there, terrified to open her eyes.

"Well, that's an interesting technique you have there agent." She heard a voice state. She opened her eyes to see Kevin, wearing a camouflage uniform. He was leading a battalion of American troops. Before them, she could see the moogers lying dead. The shots hadn't been fired by the moogers, but by the rescue party. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dr. Wallace I presume?" Kevin asked Terry. He just nodded. "Well, I know a lot of people back home that'll be relieved to see you get back alive and well."

"Wait, what about Jay..." Serena asked, before remembering the rules. Everyone else was their character. To them, Jayden wasn't Jayden. "What about Steele?"

"He must still be in the compound." Kevin stated. "Come on, we need to go before this place blows up!"

"But...he's still in there!" She screamed.

"If MI6 has faith in him, then he has to be good enough to get out of there." Kevin told her. "If he isn't, that's not my problem. My mission is only to bring you and the doc back to the USS Shiba."

"But..."

"Agent Cage, I have express orders to bring you and the doc back safely." He reiterated. "I will not hesitate to put you into custody to do so."

Serena just resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't going to win this one, and just went with him. She and Terry boarded a nearby helicopter with Kevin and some of his men, before strapping themselves in. Serena wanted to go back and help, but Jayden had reminded her that she had to stay with Terry. If anything happened to him, the story would only re-start. She felt a hand in hers, and looked across to see that it was Terry's. His hand was warm, and she could feel a rush going through her at his touch. She looked to him in disbelief, feeling that strange, painful, and also wonderful mix of feelings that she got around him. Her headache returned as her brain refused to figure out what was happening to her.

"It's alright." She told him. "We'll be safe."

"What about him?" He asked, looking out the window. Serena looked across, breathing a sigh as a huge explosion ripped through the whole area, levelling it. She reached for the window, unable to believe what she had seen.

"I guess we know now." Kevin said sadly. "No one could have survived that."

Serena was inclined to agree. The entire area was engulfed in flames, and there was smoke rising high into the air. She couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true. Had he failed?

That was when she realised...no, he couldn't have. If Jayden had been in the facility, if he had died, then the story would have ended with his death. If the movie was still running, then he had to have escaped somehow.

The helicopter reached the coast, heading for an aircraft carrier, which had been dubbed the 'USS Shiba'. They touched down, finding a three men waiting for them. One of them, wearing a suit, with a name tag identifying himself as CIA, was played by Mike. Next to him, Antonio was wearing a lab coat and glasses. Finally, the third man was played by Ji. Serena and Terry came over, and she saluted them.

"Well, this was all a little bit of a mess now wasn't it Eva?" Mike asked her. She just rolled her eyes. How could Mike end up outranking her? "Still, I see you got the doctor back, so I guess all is well."

"What about our man?" Ji asked her in a very high-class, very stereotyped English accent. Kevin shook his head.

"We believe he was still in the facility when it was destroyed." He informed them. "I'm sorry."

Serena turned around as she heard an engine though. She smiled as she saw a speedboat coming around the coastline. His clothing was scorched and ragged, but as the boat came closer, and men ran to the edge of the aircraft carrier, it became obvious that it was him. Serena grinned broadly as she saw him.

"Well, I'll be." Ji said in the accent that was so stereotyped, it almost made her laugh. Jayden had pulled the speedboat up to the side of the USS Shiba, and climbed the ladder, coming to Ji's side.

"Mentor." He greeted him with a handshake.

"You never cease to amaze me Steele." He answered. "You always seem to find a way out of these hopeless situations."

"Well, it's what Her Majesty's hard-earned tax money has paid for sir." He stated. He handed a slightly scorched, broken sword to Antonio. "This performed admirably by the way G."

"Will you ever bring back any of my equipment intact Steele?" He asked. Jayden just smiled.

"Well, I came back in one piece." He stated, putting an arm around him. "Isn't that enough?"

"I suppose it'll have to be." Antonio replied, drawing him in and kissing him. Serena felt a hand on her arm and turned, seeing Terry standing, fidgeting nervously.

"I suppose you'll be going back to the U.S. Ms Cage?" He asked her. She just shrugged.

"I guess so." She replied. He seemed to be playing with a piece of paper, looking to it as he bit his lip. He finally thrust it towards her, at which she took it, looking at it.

"Is this...?" She asked him. "Is this your address?"

"My phone number as well." He told her. "I...I...I know that this is probably just me being silly, but if you're ever in Oxford, I was hoping that perhaps we might get together? I could show you around or just buy you a meal or..."

"I don't know what to say." Serena replied honestly. Mike came over, having apparently noticed the scene.

"That's enough flirting Cage." He told her. "I need you in my office for debriefing."

She just sighed.

"Fine, I'll be right there." She grumbled.

"Then we can talk about the fact you have accrued too much leave." He continued. "Are you trying to get us sued? Take a damned holiday!"

Serena just looked to Terry, seeing the way he looked at her through his spectacles, like he was regretting putting himself in the position of having asked her out, to make himself so vulnerable. Her chest and her head were all abuzz again, and she couldn't tell where she was, or even who she was, much less what she wanted. Then, before she could even say anything, he disappeared. Looking around, everyone other than Jayden did likewise. They heard a crashing of breaking glass, and turned to the control tower, where a window smashed, and a figure came flying through the air, crashing onto the deck, leaving a crater almost ten feet in diameter. As he drew himself to full height, they recognised him as the Grand Shogun.

"So, you're the Grand Shogun." Jayden surmised. "The first Shiba Ranger."

"Yes, I am." He responded. "And I notice that even here you lack the power to deal with things for yourself."

He cast a look to Serena, who could feel even in his gaze a power that she couldn't begin to comprehend.

"There was a team in your time." Jayden reminded The Grand Shogun. His ancestor just pulled out his Spin Sword, at which another appeared in Jayden's hand.

"There was." He answered. "But I didn't cower in fear from any man or Nighlock. I didn't lead a team almost to destruction taking on a mere..."

"Xandred is NO mere Nighlock!" Jayden barked. The Grand Shogun just shook his head.

"Whining and making excuses, while you continue to shame the legacy I created." He said bitterly, pulling off his helmet. Long, white hair spilled out of it. His moustache and beard extended almost to his solar plexus over his armour, but despite his aged appearance, he had a build of a man decades his junior. His eyes burned through Jayden, with a fierce judgement that threatened to consume him. "You are nothing but a spoiled, weak, pathetic whinging child with no sense of responsibility.

"Hey asshole!" Serena screamed at him. "Yeah, I'm talking to you, who the hell do you think you are talking to him like that?"

"I am The Grand Shogun." He stated with authority. "I am..."

"You're a narrow-minded, judgemental jackass!" Serena interrupted him, causing him to just glare at her. "Yeah, this is all your doing isn't it?"

"I..."

"You just don't get it do you?" Serena told him. "Just because someone or something is different doesn't make it worse! Jayden's saved more lives than penicillin! He's dedicated his life..."

"Yes, and yet, he accomplished in those years less than I did in my worst." The Grand Shogun stated. "What about your team? They take their powers..."

"They were good enough to kick the crap out of all your cronies!" She interrupted him again, striding towards him. "They've proven themselves so many times, and yet you still saw fit to curse them, all so you and your decrepit buddies could have one more bite of the cherry!"

"We would have..."

"Then why didn't you?" Serena snapped, wounding him with her question. "If you and your buddies were so great, so God-like, why are there still Nighlock in the world today?"

"You still hide behind a woman!" The Grand Shogun taunted Jayden. "You still hide behind..."

"Hey, no one talks over me asshole, not even you!" Serena spat angrily. "You didn't answer. If you were so great, why are we here still cleaning up the shit you left behind?"

"You are loyal to your Shogun." He said coldly, glaring at Serena. "Now ask yourself. If he was worthy of your loyalty, if he was so powerful, then why is the man you pledged your heart to dead?"

That was low, that was very low. Serena looked to Jayden with tears in her eyes. He looked to her, his own eyes sparkling. It hurt Jayden terribly too. Despite everything that had happened, he too considered Stephen's death to be his greatest failure. His eyes told the story, he was wordlessly pleading with her for forgiveness. Serena just took a breath and wiped her eyes with her wrist.

"Jayden couldn't save him." She told the Grand Shogun, before looking to him. "And if he couldn't, no one else could have. Not even you."

"Is that what you truly believe?" He asked her. She didn't even hesitate to nod.

"Without a doubt." She told him. "If it's a tossup between you and Jayden, then I'm with him every time."

With a wave of his hand, Serena disappeared in a ball of flame. Jayden looked to the spot she had been standing in.

"Serena!" He screamed, before looking to him.

"She is fine, I just took her back where she belongs." He told his descendent. "Now, it will just be us."

He raised his hand, at which a huge dome of fire almost thirty feet in diameter burst from the ground, enclosing them.

"You whine and mope over your father, and you hide from Dekker." He snorted. "You disgrace..."

"Until this moment, I've always been proud to be a Shiba." Jayden roared, before flame engulfed him, before dissipating, leaving him in Super Samurai Mode, only the helmet missing so he could confront his ancestor face-to-face. "Now, I resent having even a little of your blood in my veins."

"Then I shall drain you of it!" He snarled, raising a guard. He and Jayden started to circle each other as the heat of the dome intensified, almost as though anticipating the battle to come.

Terry was still in the woods when he looked into the sky. He saw a light, a star he believed, but so much brighter than the others. Then, it started to move. Was it possible? Was he really getting to see a shooting star?

As he watched, it started to get bigger, and bigger...until his eyes opened wide in fear. It wasn't just moving, it was coming straight for him! He ran and dived into the undergrowth as it slammed into the ground, burning a path through where he had been. He got out of the bush, and looked to where his guitar had been, seeing only charred splinters.

"Aw man, that..." His words tailed off as he looked down the crater, seeing that lying there, in the path of the impact, was an unconscious Serena.

"Serena!" He yelled, desperation in his voice as he sprinted over, stumbling over broken and scorched plants. "Serena!"

He got to her side, kneeling beside her. He wordlessly mouthed a prayer of thanks as he realised she was still breathing, but not by much. He turned her onto her back and looked to her. She started to groan, her eyes starting to open.

"Ter..."

"Don't talk." He willed her. "Please, just...don't talk. I'll get you the help you need."

He flipped open his Samuraizer, dialling Ji.

"Ji, it's Terry." He rushed out. "I've found Serena; she's in the place we talked. She's in a really bad way."

"Ter..."

"Just...stay still." He told her. "Please, I need some help."

As he flipped the phone away, he started to run a hand over her head comfortingly. He wasn't a doctor, only a medical student, but he had seen enough emergency situations to be able to remain calm in a crisis. This time though was different. Seeing Serena so weak, so injured, helpless...it affected him to the core of his being.

"Please, just hold on." He begged her. "Help's coming."

As Serena slid back into unconsciousness, Terry's voice was the last thing she heard, and she felt her heart beating furiously once more.


	15. Serena's Confusion

Agony that was the only word to describe it. As she finally came to, with no idea where she was, Serena could feel nothing but pain from every inch of her body. The last thing she remembered was chewing out The Grand Shogun for cursing the team, but after that...she couldn't remember much.

There was one thing though, a soft, caring voice, one that kept asking for her, begging her to come back. She recognised it as Terry, and despite what her brain was saying, screaming even, she found her way back. She finally found her eyes fluttering open back in a side-room of the Shiba House.

Terry wasn't a doctor, something he reminded them of a few times when his medical expertise was called for, but something. if anything, he almost apologised for. It wasn't as if he could do anything about it, he was still a student, and indeed he had left university to come and serve as a Ranger while his sister recovered from her broken wrist. Serena couldn't help her lips curling upward as she started to come to, hearing his voice.

"Serena?" He asked. "She's awake, she's awake!"

The room was soon full of people. The Shiba House was always full of people. Ji and Jayden had been there since her mother's tenure as a Ranger. Kevin, Mia, Mike, Emily, Antonio...the fact was, the house had long since exceeded its occupancy limits despite what anyone said. It was a frequent occurrence that someone would be standing outside a bathroom, impatiently tapping a foot as they waited for someone to finish. There were always certain times there was no hot water for showering.

She looked up, finding Terry standing over her. She could feel something in her chest, her head hadn't quite caught up with her, and she was convinced part of it had to still be in the forest. She felt giddy, she felt her chest tightening, she felt nervous, kind of like the early days she had with...her head hadn't caught up enough to remember. All she knew was she had felt this before.

"Serena?" Terry asked her. He held up a hand. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Six?" She offered weakly. It wasn't a good sign, a fact even she knew. He was only holding up one hand, so it wasn't physically possible for him to hold up six fingers. She had been dumped on her ass spectacularly by...

It was then that something occurred to her. Jayden was still there. He still needed her! She tried to sit up, only to be shoved back down.

"Serena, you're going nowhere." Terry assured her. She protested, but it was muffled by her air mask. "You don't..."

She started to struggle to get back to her feet, but Terry grabbed her and physically forced her down onto the bed. He knew that she was in no state to fight, even if they did find a way to put her back into Jayden's movie.

He caught her gaze, and as their eyes locked, something happened. All of a sudden, she stopped struggling. She didn't understand why, she still wanted to get up and help Jayden, but it was like something had spoken directly to her, something she couldn't explain.

It was then that she saw Emily enter, with tears in her eyes. She could predict that Emily would find it hard to see her helpless. It was something Emily had to see once before, and Serena felt guilty about putting her through it again. Emily threw her arms around her.

"Serena!" She sobbed, clinging to her desperately. Serena couldn't yet move, or speak. Instead, all she could do was let Emily hold her.

Back on the flight deck, Jayden was sent spinning away as The Grand Shogun's blade slashed his face. He could see why he was the most respected Shogun in Japan, and he could concede that his still was lacking in comparison. The Grand Shogun started to pace.

"You are nothing but a pathetic, whining child." He snorted. "You spent your whole life..."

"I've done nothing but try and live up to the family name!" Jayden snapped. The Grand Shogun just snorted again.

"Your father..."

"Don't you DARE say a word against...!" He found himself punted back into the dome by a fireball. He was scorched horrendously, to the point he was sure he would need hospital treatment, but he couldn't stop. This was it, this was everything.

"Your father was every bit as weak and pathetic as you." The Grand Shogun stated.

"Take that back." Jayden warned him.

"He failed in his task, and let his pathetic son to take up his slack." He stated.

"You may be my ancestor, but don't EVER think you can talk about my dad!" Jayden warned him. The Grand Shogun just smiled.

"You disgrace the family name." He stated. "You also damn it. Your choice in life, your...preference..."

Jayden had heard more than enough. Their swords rang out as they plunged into the battle once more.

You judge what you cannot know." Jayden stated. "What I feel for Antonio..."

"It dooms out bloodline to extinction!" The Grand Shogun interrupted him. Jayden just shook his head.

"Hopefully I'll be the last generation that's needed." He told him. "Besides, we both know the Shiba line has another chance."

He flicked The Grand Shogun's sword away, disarming him, before plunging his own katana hilt-deep into his chest. He caught the Grand Shogun's sword, and swung around, beheading his victim without a hint of remorse.

Looking to the Living Room, he couldn't imagine what they had been through; it was only his instinct that told him they had been though something similar.

"The Nighlock?" He asked. Emily shook her head.

"He's gone." She informed him. "He..."

It was then that Serena stormed into the room...more accurately she FLED into the room, with Terry close behind her.

"Serena, you..."

"I don't want to lie in a fucking bed!" She spat angrily. "I..."

"Serena, I have no idea..."

"Then screw you!" She protested. "I'm not going to be a lab rat..."

"Why do you always do that Serena?" He demanded. "Why do you always think I'm here to study you?"

"Because...because..." She struggled to find an answer. "Because..."

"Seriously, I am getting so sick of this shit!" He stated angrily. "I've heard lectures from your sister, my sister..."

"Terry..."

"Hell, even Ji decided to toss his two cents in!" Terry informed her. "Serena, what..."

"I don't know." She answered before he could ask. He just swallowed.

"Serena..."

"I don't KNOW!" She reiterated...He came across glaring at her.

"Seren..."

He didn't finish. Before he knew what was happening, she seized him behind the head and held him to her, pressing her lips against his. Terry parted from her when he eventually could, only to stare at her in amazement.

"Serena..."

"Just go to hell Terry!" She demanded aloud. "Just...pack up your shit and piss off!"

"What have I done that's been so terrible?! Terry asked her.

"Just...please get out of here!" She screamed at him. As he shook his head, she leapt across the room, bearing him to the ground, before beginning to hammer him with hard punches.

He was everything she wasn't. He enjoyed life, where she just made her way. He had never had to accept responsibility where she had given it up for the sake of her sister.

Eventually, even with all the cuts and bruises on his face, he caught her wrists. He looked to her.

"Serena, just tell me what's going on!"

She stopped, unable to think, to act, to breathe. She had been seized by a puppet master of emotions she didn't understand until now. Looking into his face, she leaned in, kissing him passionately.

As they parted, Terry looked completely dumbstruck. She had ambushed him. She had...

When she looked to the side, she saw the others all gathered. All of them were standing, staring at her with open mouths. She shoved Terry away again. Her eyes were filled with tears, her heart was full of guilt, and her head was exploding with confusion. As she got to the beach, she sank to her knees and wept. Why did Terry even have to come to the Shiba House?

Before they knew what was happening, he found himself in a plaza, together with Ji and all the other Rangers. Four oriental men stood a little way from them. The Grand Shogun vanished from beneath him, before reappearing standing, a couple of feet away.

"Uh...alright, what gives?" Mike asked.

"This is a gift from us." The Grand Shogun told them. "Please, accept it. You will be returned to your world in three days."

"But...you put us through..."

"We put you through a trial, and you passed." The Blue Shogun stated with authority. "Just...accept this gift as a way of knowing what you do is appreciated."

With that, they all vanished. Kevin helped prop Jayden up as they looked around.

"Where the hell are we?" Mia asked.

"Well, that sign..." Mike stated, before tailing off. "We're in LA!"

"LA?" Kevin asked in response. Just then, they noticed a bunch of kids walking past them in Samurai Ranger uniforms. Looking to each other, they just shrugged, and followed them around. There, they found easily a thousand or more people cueing by the back entrance to a convention centre.

"So, what are we here to...?"

"Holy Shit, it's the Samurai Rangers!" They heard a voice exclaim. They were suddenly swamped with admirers, all demanding photos or autographs. Eventually, Mike noticed something odd. Another group arrived, and they all looked just like them.

"Hey, we're all over here!" The Red Ranger stated. "I have my passport to prove it!"

The crowd all ran over to the other group, leaving the Rangers somewhat confused. A girl looking exactly like Emily approached her, and started to scan her with her eyes.

"This is...wow, this is seriously creepy." She told her. "My name's Brittany."

"Emily." Emily replied shaking her hand. Brittany just sniggered.

"Yeah, whatever you say." She replied. "I guess I'll see you inside.

"I guess so." Emily replied as Brittany left. She just looked to the other completely confused. "Um...what was that about?"

"I think that might have something to do with it." Antonio stated, pointing to a banner hanging over the doorway. There were several others, depicting many Ranger teams from the past. Mike just furrowed his brow.

"What the hell is Morphicon?" He asked. Just then, he noticed a guy that looked pretty much exactly like him walking past. He stopped him, at which the guy just stood with his jaw hanging open.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed. "I know people like the show, but I thought it'd be years before I got look-a-likes..."

"Wait, TV show?" Mike asked him. The look-a-like just laughed.

"Of course, Power Rangers is one of the best rated shows on our network!" He answered. He signed a picture and gave it to Mike. "Here, enjoy the con."

"He...he's me." Mike stammered. "Here we're a TV show!"

"A pretty successful TV show by the looks of things." Mia added as she returned with a convention t-shirt. "I just spoke to a guy from New Zealand!"

"We thought you might enjoy this." The Grand Shogun announced. This time, all of them were wearing suits. "We decided after this trial, you all deserved a treat, so we transported you to a dimension that we all thought you'd enjoy."

"You mean a dimension where we don't exist!" Mia snapped. Her counterpart just shook his head.

"No, just a dimension where you are recognised as the heroes you are." He replied. "You have 24 hours. Make the most of it."

With that, the Shogun all disappeared. A guy ran up to them, beginning to prod Antonio repeatedly.

"Stephen, Stephen, you are SUCH an amazing talent!" She demanded, handing someone her digital camera. "Can you please sing like you did on Glee?"

"I never..." He was cut off as Jayden elbowed him in the ribs.

"Just do it." He whispered. "I'll make it up to you later."

Fin.

**A/N:** Final chapter of this story, I will be on hiatus while I attend a certain con. Hope you all liked it, and looking forward to picking up the main storyline once the season is back.


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